Clydebank (1965) 4
Dundee 0
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

Newspaper extract from The Courier.

The immortal words of the late Bill Shankly came winging their way down over a timespan of 20-plus years as I watched Dundee humbled 4-0 by Clydebank at Kilbowie Park on Saturday.

After a defeat, equally surprising, of his beloved Liverpool he summed it up to me-"We started badly... then fell away!"

Archie Knox was on the same wavelength, but much more pointed, when he said after Saturday's game, "That's the worst display since I took over as manager nearly two years ago."

Though he retained remarkable composure in the face of Press questions, he must have been sick inside at his team's display.

They had indeed "started badly." with Bankies getting a gift goal in 44 seconds. A too short pass back by Jim Duffy left Mike Conroy with the easy task of running on and placing the ball past Bobby Geddes.

But this, we assured our selves, was a full-time team against part-timers. They would pick themselves up, dust them selves off and set straight about getting the equaliser, then a few more.

WRONG! In fact, the Dark Blues almost completely lost their composure. Tackles were ineffective, passing inaccurate and real chances simply not created.

As the part-timers dealt coolly with what few attacks there were and themselves kept setting up forward runs which - glory be - were based on wing play, Dundee fumbled and stumbled.

Still, it was only 1-0 at half- time, so it was on the cards that the experienced full-timers would come up with the answers after the ten-minute talk-in.

That's where the "...then fell away" bit came in, because, far from improving their lot, Dundee conceded three more goals.

Hopes were raised when, at last, a shooting chance was set up in 51 minutes for John Brown. His vicious 25-yard drive was parried, then cleared by keeper Jim Gallacher.

Five minutes later, though, Conroy broke down the left and passed to Larnach, who, after seeming to lose control, chipped the ball over the advancing Geddes and into the net.

In another five minutes Moore hammered in number three and, seven minutes from the end, Conroy, fittingly, got on the score sheet for the second time when the ball dropped kindly for him and he ran on to beat Geddes.

Dundee have, in fact, never Won at Kilbowie Park. Their five Visits have seen five defeats and an amazing two for, 14 against, goal difference.

And it could be that, at the end of the season, they will be able to look back on this as "one of those days", when a promoted team on a "high" in their first home Premier League game in nine years would have seen off any opposition.

But, right now, it's all worry.

What went wrong with a defence out jumped throughout by Conroy; opened up down the wings with alarming case? Where were the midfield skills that failed to set up chances even when tiring opponents conceded the middle ground in the last 20 minutes? Where were the forwards to take advantage of the few chances that did crop up?

The whole affair was a frightening exposure of weak- nesses in all departments. No Dundee player qualified for praise, few on the Bankies side deserve criticism.

Especially effective were keeper Gallacher and centre- half Jim Fallon (how have they stayed 13 and 17 years at Kilbowie when they can play like this?) and striker Conroy..

Seven names were taken, mostly for technical offences- Brown, Glennie, McCormack of Dundee and Ronald, Dickson, Fallon, Moore of Clydebank.

At the end, Bankies coach Sam Henderson, said, "What we are looking for is maximum effort and today we fired on all cylinders."

He could have added that Dundee fired on none and there would have been no argument.