Clydebank made it three consecutive wins with a last gasp 2-1 victory over Rutherglen Glencairn on Saturday.
Alan Vezza’s first half opener was cancelled out by Sean McGuire’s effort, before Glencairn were reduced to ten men early in the second half. Nicky Little missed from the penalty spot, before his strike three minutes from time snatched all three points at the Celsius stadium.
Bankies boss Budgie McGhie made two changes to the side that beat Petershill, with Calum Gow and Cammy Haddow coming in for Robbie Halliday and Mark Burbidge.
Seven minutes into the game, Bankies could’ve and perhaps should’ve been in front. Neat work down the right saw Peter McGill dispossess Brian Eadie, and his ball into the box found Stevie Young, but Glens stopper JC Hutchison spread himself well to block the shot.
Midway through the first half, Bankies opened the scoring. Nicky Little’s free kick was misjudged by Hutchison, and the ball fell perfectly for Alan Vezza to stab the ball home from point blank range as he registered his second goal in as many games.
However, on the half hour mark Glencairn were level. McGuire pounced on a loose ball and fed Jay McKay, whose clever reverse ball was perfect for McGuire to take a touch and shoot beyond the reach of Josh Lumsden.
Ten minutes after the restart, Glens were reduced to ten men. Jordan Shelvey dispossessed Craig McGregor and evaded the sliding challenge of Tony Fraser before before being on the end of a crunching two footed tackle by Ryan Docherty. Referee Craig King deemed the foul to be serious foul play and brandished a straight red card at the defender.
With fifteen minutes remaining, Glencairn were left incensed as they had a penalty claim waved away by the referee after the ball appeared to touch the arm of sliding defender Jamie Lyden. Play continued and Bankies went on the attack and it was the visitors who were awarded a penalty kick of their own.
A long ball over the top was controlled well by Young, who was wrestled to the ground, with the referee this time having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Nicky Little stepped up, but his effort was straight at Hutchison who parried the ball to safety.
With just three minutes remaining, Bankies sealed the win. After being brought down, Haddow dusted himself down and fired the free kick into the wall. From the resulting rebound, Andy Paterson fizzed a volley towards goal that Hutchison could only parry into the path of Little, who took a touch before slotting the ball in at the near post to secure all three points.
Defeats for Kilsyth Rangers and Shettleston sees Clydebank sit third in the table, just a point off top spot.
Next up is the trip to Shotts, and kick at Hannah Park is the earlier time of 1:45pm.
(Highlights courtesy of Gerry King/@rglencairn)
[FAG id=3420]
