Clydebank manager Gordon Moffat admits Saturday’s defeat at Beith was a tough one to take – but insists the battle for the title remains very much alive.
The top-of-the-table clash at Bellsdale Park resulted in a 2-1 victory for the home side after ex-Bankie and Yoker defender Evan Dunne opened the scoring and Aaron Mason doubled the lead.
Craig Truesdale pulled one back as the hosts finished with ten men but the visitors couldn’t find a dramatic equaliser.
Bankies remain out in front in the Premier Division, leading the way by nine points, but both Darvel and Beith could find themselves in top spot if they were to win games in hand.
Saturday’s result was Clydebank’s first defeat in 90 minutes since October and Moff has challenged his side to start another unbeaten run as the season heads towards the business end.
Speaking to the Post, he said: “It hits pretty hard when you haven’t lost a game of football in such a long time. It’s a sore one, especially with the magnitude of the game.
“It’s really disappointing but we’ve got ten games to go and there’s going to be points dropped up the top most weeks so we’ve just got to focus on what we’ve got ahead of us.
“The way results went elsewhere if we were to have got a point then we would have seen it as a really good point so that’s frustrating as well.
“I’m not going to crucify the guys because they have been excellent over this unbeaten run – you’ll not see many teams go on a run like that in this league so the fact they have done it, they are obviously doing something right.
“It was a sore one to take on Saturday night but when you take a step back and appreciate where we are, we’re still leading the division.
“Beith have several games in hand and if they do what they need to do then there’s not a lot we can do about it.
“We’ve got ten games of our own and 30 points to play for and we’ll look to gather as many as we can and see where it takes us.”
Bankies are back at Holm Park this weekend as they look to keep another impressive record intact having lost just one league game there all season.
Gartcairn are the visitors with their impressive squad, packed with players who played much of their career in the senior leagues in the country.
Moff’s side battled back from two goals down to grab a point in the reverse fixture at MTC Park earlier this season and he knows a tough test awaits on Saturday.
He said: “We saw in the first game with Gartcairn the quality that they’ve got – it’s basically a team full of ex-SPFL players.
“They’ve obviously got a big budget and resources to back them, which is fine, we just need to deal with it.
“We’re at home and haven’t lost there since the first game of the season so we need to take confidence from that and take the game to them.”
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