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Johnstone Burgh 0-1 Clydebank
Clydebank once again upset the odds to beat Super-league side Johnstone Burgh to progress to the second round of the West of Scotland Cup.
The pitch had a good layer of rain on it, and to me it seemed that their drains on the pitch were poor. Players kept slipping all over the place, especially wee Hailstones, who spent half the match on the ground! Mind you, that was as much due to the slippery surface as well as the hard challenges made by one of the worst disciplined teams in Junior football.
This is how the teams lined up:
Clydebank fielded an almost identical team to last week's match against Carluke, with the change of Soutar for a trialist and Dempsey starting on the right of midfield. Here's how it looked:
Clydebank were once again playing in their new black away top, while the Burgh played in their home colours of all red. Johnstone Burgh kicked off, and then a torrential downpour descended upon the ground. With no space in the shelter, I stood in the rain, not able to write as the rain would make it almost impossible to actually write. So the first 15 minutes of the report is sketchy due to this.
The first chance of the match fell to Hailstones, who was put through on goal from the right. His shot was well saved, but some determination paid off, as he squeezed in the rebound to send the travelling Bankies fans mad, and he made it Johnstone Burgh 0-1, after 3 minutes.
Between that and the the first 20 minutes or so, no other chances were made, but it was mainly all Clydebank. We were playing some good football against our super-league opponents, and a couple of shots here and there were dealt with, but Johnstone Burgh were rarely a threat in the first half.
In fact, even though it was an exciting first half, feck all happened! On 22 minutes, new Burgh signing Alex Smith was booked. Then the slightly-injured Halpin reacted quickly to rush off his line and dive at the feet of an onrushing attacker, and he prevented a shot and a potential goal with his quick reactions and awareness.
On half an hour, Halpin again denied the Burgh an equaliser when he did well to make a save. A minute later, a Clydebank free kick saw it being headed at the back post by Crawford, which set up Dempsey for a volley which nearly drifted out of the ground.
5 minutes later, a Clinton Maxwell cross found Waddell, but his header was weak and easily dealt with. Then all Hell broke loose a minute later. Harkins was fouled REALLY late on the touchline by McKnight, a very bad challenge, with malicious intent as the ball was cleared before he even went in for the challenge. Harkins reacted angrily to this, and shoved (I think) McKnight over. The referee and several players rushed in to break this up, and after a minute or 2 had passed, a straight red card was issued to McKnight. He DID tackle him right in front of the linesman, so the linesman had the best view of it, and probably decided along with the referee that it was a deliberate dangerous tackle. Harkins was booked for his retaliation, and Johnstone Burgh's already-difficult afternoon was worsened by the dismissal of McKnight.
The last chance of the half fell to Hailstones, after 39 minutes. He was put through on goal, but his touch let him down and Traynor did well to deny him another goal by saving at his feet. The referee blew for half time after a couple of minutes of injury time, and the half time score was:
JOHNSTONE BURGH 0-1 CLYDEBANK
The half time antics of Simeon and Mehigan brought great laughter to all those who witnessed it, as they kept tripping each other up. Mehigan had the last laugh by decking him on the goal-line, which brought cheers to the Bankies fans and a red face for Simba. Meghi was so proud of himself, going "they love me again". Newsflash to Meghi, the fans never stopped loving ya!
Clydebank kicked off the 2nd half, but after a quiet first 5 minutes or so, Des Kelly made a good surging run through the Burgh midfield and fired in a shot which was well saved from Traynor. The resulting corner saw it eventually get to Waddell, who set up Maxwell who volleyed it just wide on 53 minutes.
A minute later, Johnstone Burgh came close with a shot drifting just past the post. Clydebank responded to this by going straight back up the pitch and almost scoring, Hailstones trying to get that elusive second goal with a far-out shot, but it went just over the bar. A good effort from mighty midget, but was unlucky for the shot to go over. A minute after this, Dempsey gets a stupid booking for kicking the ball away.
Sinclair Soutar was booked on 59 minutes for a very hard tackle, and then a minute later Maxwell put Hailstones through on goal. His run was forced wide, though, so he swung in a cross hoping it'd reach a Bankies head. Unfortunately, it was cut out, and cleared away. A good bit of football from Clydebank, it was good to watch.
Crawford played a 1-2 with Des Kelly on 62 minutes, and was through on goal with a good chance to score. Good defending though saw his shot being forced wide of goal. Either that, or he just sliced it...I'll stick with him being forced to shoot wide, lol.
Waddell's too honest for his own good, sometimes. He was through on goal, and he rounded the goalkeeper. The keeper caught him, but he still managed to stay on his feet. The ball trickled out of play, though, and the chance was lost. A couple of minutes later, Waddell again had a chance, his shot going wide of goal.
69 minutes: Clydebank SUB - Mark Hailstones OFF, Michael Tolland ON
71 minutes: Burgh SUB - Alex Smith OFF, Lindsay ON
Some dodgy tackles were occuring, the Bankies doing the tackling! Mick Fallen received a booking for a very hard tackle on the Burgh victim - I mean player, on 74 minutes.
77 minutes: Clydebank SUB - Clinton Maxwell OFF, Derek Readie ON
A moment of genius from Waddell coming up, now. 79 minutes gone, players are getting tired and sore, but Clydebank are still playing wonderful football. Des Kelly played a lovely long ball across to Soutar, who passed it on to Waddell, who flicked it over the defender to put himself through on goal with only Traynor to beat. His shot, though, went agonisingly wide of goal. Great play from Waddell to create the chance, and a good pass from Des Kelly to start it all off.
There was only 10 minutes left, and Johnstone Burgh searched in vain for an equaliser. A shot was sliced wide of goal, and then a minute later Des Kelly was booked for a deliberate handball, he tried to do a Maradona!
83 minutes: Burgh SUB - Taggart and Creaney OFF, Whyte and Friels ON
A minute after this double substitution, Waddell was clipped near the edge of the box, and it was a free kick. It was saved from Traynor, unfortunately, and the match still only had 1 goal in it.
85 minutes: Clydebank SUB - Des Kelly OFF, David Simeon ON
From this change, Readie had a shot blocked from the Burgh defence, and the resulting corner that was swung in from Tolland was a good one, but nobody got to it and Traynor gathered. Simeon had a glorious chance, a weak passback saw him charging down the ball, but Traynor beat him to it and denied him a goal. If only Simeon was a bit faster, he would've sealed the game!
In between all of this, Burgh were trying desperately to score, but our defence held firm, the 3 centre backs like some kind of iron wall, nothing getting through. With 91 minutes gone, Del Readie had a shot saved by Traynor's body, and that was really the last chance of the game. Some more pressure from Johnstone Burgh, and after 4 or 5 minutes of injury time the referee blew his whistle. Clydebank had done it again, lightning HAS struck twice. The full time score at the James Y. Keanie Park was:
JOHNSTONE BURGH 0-1 CLYDEBANK
In-depth analysis
Another superb performance from Clydebank, especially concerning defence. The early goal was enough for us, and we held our own against a team 2 divisions above us.
Johnstone Burgh could protest that they had an injury crisis, with only 5 players turning up for mid-week training, according to reports in the Evening Times. Also, the red card would've been a factor in them trying to get something from the match. But in the end, we out-played them when they had 11 men, and did so when they had only 10 men. We had more chances, we denied them with a great defensive performance and we DID deserve to win. The Bankies done us proud, and we're in the next round of the West of Scotland Cup.
Here's a diagram to show the runs made by the players today:
Man of the match: Jon Crawford
