WATCH: Emotional scenes as Clydebank Football Club celebrate Scottish Cup victory over Elgin City and reaction from manager Gordon Moffat and goal hero Nicky Little
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BOROUGH Briggs witnessed an outpouring of emotions as Clydebank pulled off a famous Scottish Cup victory over Elgin City.
Backed by several hundred travelling Bankies, who didn't stop singing all day, the Holm Park outfit defeated League Two hosts Elgin 2-1 in Saturday's second round replay.
Captain Nicky Little, whose penalty conversion in front of the BBC Scotland TV cameras on Monday forced the replay, struck what proved to be the winner and admitted tears were shed at full time.
The jubilant players celebrated with their fans, then pumped out the music in the dressing room to mark an incredible day for the club, whose name disappeared from the Scottish League ranks nearly 20 years ago.
Overjoyed manager Gordon Moffat and goal hero Little touched on the history of the club as they spoke about their triumph at full time.
Little said: "We’re so delighted. What a day, we took 300 fans or so and what a day for them, what a time they will have on the buses going back down the road!
"I’ve been at the club for five or six years and this is the pinnacle so far.
"Everybody knows what happened to Clydebank 20 years or so ago, and it’s been a long road to get to this stage, to get to compete with teams like Elgin in League 2. But it is fantastic and I’m so happy for the boys."
Little's 67th minute strike was crucial, as it gave the Bankies a crucial two-goal cushion which was halved by a late Brian Cameron goal for Elgin.
"I was surprised I even got there, my legs were heavy for about the first 30 minutes in but I made it in the box.
"I’m right-footed so I wasn’t fully settled on my left foot so I cut inside and I just saw the far corner and luckily I just bent it in."
His goal sealed a third round tie at home to Clyde with the Bankies' Holm Park ground certain to be noisy for the visit of the League One side.
"It will be the same as it was on Monday at home and especially with it being a Saturday as well, Holm Park will be full to the rafters and we will go again and hopefully we can take another scalp," Little added.
There was a tear in the eye for the Clydebank captain when he added: "I’m so proud, I’m proud for everyone connected to the club.
"The players, the supporters, the committee - it’s been a long road for them especially and it is going to be a bit emotional tonight and rightly so. I could not be any happier."
Boss Moffat can't wait to lead his troops into battle against the Bully Wee in the next round.
"It's amazing to be playing Clyde," he said. "It’s another jump in quality and level for us but you just never know what can happen when you've got boys like that at the club.
"We will go and give it our best, a bit of a free hit for us again and we will see what happens.
The Bankies gaffer admitted he was lost for words when he was asked what it meant to the club winning at the home patch of an SPFL club.
"The scenes were amazing. I said it all week, it means a lot to a lot of people. People will be sick of me talking about it, the history of the club but honestly the board and the people behind the scenes have been through a lot to get us to this point.
He paid tribute to the support his team received from the visiting fans, helping to preserve the Bankies' incredible record on the road.
"I'm just delighted for the support that have travelled and made a lot of sacrifices to come up here today, and the board.
"The fans have always been like that, in my whole time at the club they have backed us on the road.
"Our away record is phenomenal, I don’t think we have lost an away game since the start of 2020. That came to fruition today because we know how to dig in and be compact. I’m just delighted for everybody.
"I said to the guys, we are not here for a day out, we are here to get through the tie and they believed, I could see it in their eyes before the game that they could get through.
"It’s hard to put into words. We were hanging on towards the end a bit but Elgin have league quality and they showed us that on Monday in the first half hour and for long spells today.
"At times we had to dig in and trust the stuff we do in training, our shape and our distances and I thought the boys did that.
"We rode our luck at times but I thought we deserved it just for absolute heart and willingness to get through."
