Bankies get better of Ashfield

Published 9 Dec 2009 13:00

Ashfield 0 Clydebank 1

A STUNNING Mark Hailstones strike was enough to earn Bankies all three points in a hard-fought clash at Saracen Park.

The fans' favourite came off the bench and with one of his first touches he curled home a superb shot to break the deadlock.

It was a goal worthy of winning any match and helped the visitors to their fifth win in a row in all competitions.

Both sides went all out for a win from the start in a fiercely competitive encounter.

Brian Smith almost opened the scoring for the visitors when he latched on to a Martin McInnes header, only to see his shot come back off a post.

Andy Selkirk then slid home a Smith cross, but the goal was disallowed as John Jack was ruled offside in the build-up.

At the other end Stefan Gonet was in fine form and keeping the eager Ashfield forwards at bay.

Stevie Dallas had the best chance of the first half when he latched onto a Paul Allum pass, but his attempted lob was punched wide by ex-Bankie Chris Prior.

Unbelievably, the referee and his assistants failed to spot the keeper's save and awarded a goal-kick.

The Bankies had another excuse to berate the whistler after the break when he missed a thuggish stamp on Jack by Ashfield midfielder Mark Thomson.

Jack was left with a nasty gash after the disgraceful challenge which left him raging.

In fact, the ref ended up booking the Clydebank veteran for letting Thomson know exactly what he thought of him.

Hailstones replaced Selkirk shortly into the second half and made an almost immediate impact with his match-winning goal.

He killed a long clearance from Gonet before turning his marker and unleashing a 22-yard drive past a static Prior.

Thomson came close to levelling the match when Ashfield hit Bankies quickly on the break, but the impressive Gonet pulled off a great save to keep his team ahead.

The home side threw everything at trying to save a point and forced a series of corners and free-kicks around the box.

But the Clydebank defence and Gonet were determined to keep a clean sheet and dealt with all that came their way.

On the full-time whistle both sets of players were involved in a fracas that had the referee whistling frantically to restore order.

The ill-tempered affair carried on as the players left the field, but there was nothing for the ref to get too worked up about so the notebook stayed in his pocket.

Clydebank can now look forward to a home

match on Saturday against Ayrshire strugglers Dalry Thistle.

A Bankies win could see the Holm Park outfit go third in the league. Kick-off on Saturday is at 1.45pm.

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