12th November 2000
Sparta Jag vs Clydebank
West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow
This is the fixture which neither side dare lose. The scene was set for
another fraught encounter when legendary Clydebank fan Paul "The Bankie"
Cummings was pointed out to the Sparta Jag squad. Our visitors made the
brighter start and had us pegged back for the first fifteen minutes or so.
Nicky Sutherland did well to punch the ball clear from a looping cross which
was heading for the top corner, and Stuart Deans cleared a deflected shot off
the line, before Sparta Jag finally took control. Craig McIntosh and Andy
Walker put us two up as the Bankies pushed upfield and left gaps at the back,
and when Gerry Nicol and Tony McGlennon added our third and fourth in the
space of a couple of minutes just before half-time, the game was effectively
over as a contest.
During the break it was suggested that if we were 7-0 ahead with a minute or
so remaining, we should put through our own net and obtain a measure of
revenge for a hammering suffered by Thistle many years ago. Keeper Nicky took
a dim view of this as a third consecutive clean sheet was at stake.
Half time: Sparta Jag 4 Clydebank 0
Our visitors' hopes of a second-half fightback took a knock during the second
half when both Stevie Latimer and Davie McNeil limped off injured after fairly
innocuous challenges. Somebody on our bench shouted, "Ha ha, Paul the Bankie,"
apparently mistaking Davie for the Bankies' other diminutive striker.
Alan McIntyre stretched our lead to five before disaster struck. After the
match ball went over the Science Park's low pitchside fence for the umpteenth
time, a throw-in was taken using the official Sparta Jag football, which we
had discovered was too hard to be used for anything except a warm-up. Some
ill-advised backheels failed to come off and we lost possession. A long ball
was played through to Paul Cummings, who was standing in a suspiciously
offside position, but ran through to chip the ball over Nicky Sutherland and
reduce the deficit slightly.
Our five-goal lead was restored when a Craig McIntosh cross was met a few
yards beyond the far post by Tony McGlennon, who volleyed it into the opposite
top corner in a Marco Van Basten style for the best goal of the day, which just
about made up for him having hit the post from quite literally a yard out a
few minutes earlier. Tony also chipped the keeper in the dying seconds to wrap
up a convincing victory.
Full time: Sparta Jag 7 Clydebank 1
Squad: Sutherland; Deans, Walker S, Mulrine, Anderson, Maclean; McIntosh,
Nelson, McGlennon, Nicol, McIntyre; Walker A, Garrow, McGlashan.
|
