Clyde v Forfar Athletic

Recap

Clyde extended the gap on the league basement to five points as they earned a victory against Forfar Athletic.

Darren Young made a double change from the starting lineup against Elgin City on Tuesday with Raymond Grant and Jordan Houston coming in for Dominic Docherty and the injured Paul McKay.

Clyde opened the scoring in the second minute courtesy of Jordan Allan. A through ball from Jordan Houston was swiftly caught by the forward who raced inside the box and beat McCallum to ram the ball into the corner of the net.

The Bully Wee maintained their strong start by almost doubling their lead in the eighth minute. Scullion sent a low cross goalwards from the right hand edge of the box, but his effort flew narrowly wide.

In the 14th minute, the hosts were continuing to pose a threat when Scullion tried to avenge his earlier miss by rifling a header from the centre of the box, but the ‘keeper stretched up to tip the ball over the bar. At the other end, Rodden spurned Forfar’s first clear opportunity when his shot from the outskirts of the box was calmly collected by an unnerved Hemfrey.

As proceedings reached the half hour mark, the Loons launched a long-arching cross deep into the box, but Hamilton raced through to clear the danger, while Whatley’s effort on the edge of the box from the resulting corner flew just wide.

With seconds until the interval, Forfar came close to equalising when an unmarked Whatley found space within the box to fire a low drive towards goal, but his shot bounced wide.

The visitors were the first to get an opportunity after the break as they sought an equaliser but Hemfrey was on alert to divert a corner kick before Whatley attempted a shot from just inside the box but the ball rippled the side netting.

In the 64th minute, Whatley again headed the ball across the middle of the box as it made a beeline for the net, but Hemfrey crouched down to collect. Meanwhile, Allan connected onto Robson’s long ball, but his effort was deflected.

With The Bully Wee creating more of a presence in the game they doubled their advantage in the 70th minute. Scullion floated a corner into a crammed box with the ball meeting the head of Rennie whose header bypassed McCallum to nestle into the bottom corner.

In the 78th minute, the hosts were embroiled in a goalmouth scramble as Forfar fought to sneak the ball into the net before it was cleared. Three minutes later, the visitors came close yet again through McLean but his six-yard shot blasted high and wide.

The victory was Clyde’s third-in-a-row at New Douglas Park, ending 2024 with just two home league defeats in the calendar year.