Clyde v Stirling Albion

Recap

Clyde were left to curse missed chances as they suffered their first defeat of the William Hill League 2 season to Stirling Albion.

Ian McCall made seven changes to the starting lineup with only Craig Howie, Liam Scullion, Paul McKay and Kyle Connell retaining their place after the midweek defeat to Rangers B in the SPFL Trust Trophy.

After a tight start to the match, Stirling opened the scoring with 11 minutes on the clock. A cross sent into the box was met by Ally Roy and Lee Hamilton, with the final touch coming off the chest of the Clyde captain to divert the ball past Brian Kinnear

Clyde seemed determined to recover from their early setback by hemming the Binos within their own half. In the 18th minute, Kyle Connell sent a high ball from a corner into the box to be received by Craig Howie, but he was blocked from directing a header towards goal.

Jordan Allan was next to attempt an effort at goal in the 27th minute after connecting onto Scullion’s pass at the edge of the box, but the ball was calmly collected by Gaston. A few minutes later both Allan and Connell struggled to connect onto Ray Grant’s header across goal as the Bully Wee were unable to make their possession count in the final third.

Clyde were on the front foot immediately after the restart with constant waves of attack in the hunt for an equaliser. Marley Redfern raced up the park and unleashed the ball across the box, which struck the chest of Gaston. The ‘keeper was then forced to recover in time to block Grant’s rebound from close-range.

Gaston then expertly denied Connell’s attempt from six yards, before cooly collecting Martin Rennie’s looping cross from the edge of the box.

As the match progressed, Rennie yet again tried his luck by successfully sneaking past opposition defenders to send a curling shot at goal, but the ball was inadvertently blocked by Allan.

Clyde’s inability to be clinical came back to haunt them in the 84th minute as Stirling doubled their lead. An unmarked McKinley stole possession to sprint up the park and rocketed a powerful low strike which bypassed Kinnear into the bottom corner. In attempting to conjure an instant reply, Logan Dunachie sent the ball into the goalmouth from deep within the box, only for the ‘keeper to dive low and grab a hold to prevent it poking past the line.