It’s 2.30pm, it’s Saturday afternoon and everyone in the office, well ok, The Wee Barrel is getting ready to head for Love Street. So the roving reporter is talking to the webmaster, who reckons that this game is a “definite banana skin” for the Saints. So the reporter sits and ponders the thought for a minute before brushing it aside, confidently predicting an 8-0 rout in favour of the home side.

How I underestimated the bankies. It’s not that they are a good side, you see, it’s just that with a combination of their excellent organisation and Saints’ below par performance they were made to look like a side who, if they weren’t that good, certainly weren’t as bad as their league position suggests.

It wasn’t just me though. The rest of the crowd at Love Street were also expecting big things against a side who hadn’t won in the league all season.

Ian McCall’s men knew this, and turned it to their advantage. They got men behind the ball at every opportunity, limiting the number of St.Mirren’s chances and silencing the 4,500 fans early on in the game. Indeed the only shouts which could be heard from the home fans were of abuse, as well as booing when the teams left the pitch at half time.

The jeering might not have helped Tom Hendrie’s men much but it did come after a first half performance which was amongst Saints’ poorest of the season. Only once did they trouble the Clydebank goal, when a Scott Walker header was cleared off the line.

Ian Cameron came close to opening the scoring for the visitors early on in the game but his effort from the edge of the box was tipped round the post by Ludovic Roy.

After the break the game was following much the same pattern before in the 53rd minute the deadlock was broken. Ian Ross’ cross from the left looked to be heading for Sergei Baltacha at the back post when the Scotland Under-21 international was pushed by Peter Cormack. The referee had no doubts it was a penalty and up stepped Steven McGarry to fire Saints’ into the lead.

A one goal lead looked good like it would be enough for all three points as Clydebank struggled to put any pressure on Roy’s goal. In the 71st minute though a high ball over the top of the home defence found Kris O’Neil who was bundled over in the box by Iain Nicolson. O’Neil looked to have been offside but the flag stayed down and ex-saint Ian Cameron coolly slotted home the resultant spot kick.
Six minutes later the largely ineffective duo of Baltacha and Tom Brown made way for Gary Bowman and Ryan Robinson.

Another six minutes on and the lead was restored. A reckless challenge on  McGarry by Cormack won Saints a free kick out on the left wing. Iain Nicolson quickly took the kick and Mark Yardley rose above the his marker to power a header past Scott from 6 yards.

In the end the webmaster was wrong, it wasn’t quite that proverbial banana-skin but Saints’ won’t come much closer than this to slipping up again, this season. (Some folk would get sacked for less!)

St.Mirren: Roy, Nicolson, Turner, McLaughlin, Ross, Walker, Baltacha (Bowman 77), McGarry, Brown (Robinson 77 (Rudden 89)), Lavety, Yardley

Clydebank: Scott, Wishart, McKelvie (Miller 63), Brannigan, Cormack, Oliver, O'Neil, McKinstrey, Cameron, Geraghty, Gardner (O’Neill 75)

Sizzling Saint: In a match in which Saints were so poor the award was always going to go to any player who could manage to put in anything close to a good performance.

Although the entire back four managed to maintain their usual standards, one of them stood out above the rest - Iain Nicolson. Despite playing in a more defensive role than usual he still managed to get up and down the right flank with great effect putting in some great crosses, one of which led to the winning goal from Mark Yardley.