BANKIES M-OFF AND RUNNING

Published 1 Sep 2010 09:00 0 Comments

Gordon's header secures first league point

BANKIES picked up their first point of the new league campaign with a hard-fought draw at Girvan thanks to Gordon Moffat’s majestic header.

Budgie McGhie travelled to South Ayrshire with no fewer than SEVEN members of his squad unavailable.

The Clydebank boss also had to name skipper Gary Lynn and striker Ross MacPherson as substitutes, despite fitness doubts over both players.

But a spirited opening spell against the fancied Seasiders showed that the visitors were keen to atone for the opening day reverse against Renfrew.

New signing Barry Crawford, making his league debut for the club, tested keeper Stuart Leavey with a header in the game’s first meaningful attack.

Bankies made the breakthrough on 10 minutes from another headed effort Leavey could do nothing about.

Mark Hailstones, restored to the starting line-up after missing out against Renfrew, delivered a fine cross into the heart of the penalty box for Gordon Moffat to nod past the isolated keeper.

It was no less than the Bankies deserved for a fast-paced start to the match.

Mark Kilpatrick came close to doubling the lead when he latched on to a near-post Paul Allum cross but the striker’s shot was turned wide.

Girvan clawed their way back into the match and in striker Michael Moffat, a summer-signing target of a number of senior clubs, they have one of the best attacking players in Junior football

Michael Moffat loves playing against the Bankies and had scored four goals in four performances against McGhie’s men before last Saturday’s encounter.

He was to make it five shortly after the hour mark when the Hamilton Park outfit hit Bankies on the break.

Michael Moffat was left up field as his team-mates defended a corner and the striker had much to do when he latched on to a clearance.

But he was up to the task and finished a long run with a low shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net to level the score. Girvan were on top at this stage but Bankies did well to keep them at bay.

Stefan Gonet was not called on to make a meaningful save for the remainder of the match.

Leavey was hardly over worked either, to be fair, but fine attacking play from Allum on a couple of occasions should have ended in the keeper being tested.

Gaffer McGhie was philosophical when he spoke to Sportscene about the result and the importance of this weekend’s match.

He said: “Ordinarily a draw at Girvan would be a good result, but it maybe doesn’t seem that way because we lost against Renfrew.

“It does make Saturday’s home match with Glenafton all the more important because we don’t want to fall too far behind the early pacesetters.”

The Holm Park clash with Glenafton kicks off at 2pm on Saturday.

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This article appeared in Clydebank Post 01 Sep 10

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