Airdrieonians v Clyde

Recap

At one nil down with Airdrie beginning to rip Clyde apart it looked like the familiar story away from home. Then in the space of two minutes Clyde had taken the lead and might have scored another towards the end. The morale boost from this victory can’t be underestimated.

Clyde had beefed up their midfield options by signing Fraser and Di Gergorio before the game. Fraser was pitched straight in at the deep end after being handed the influential holding midfield role. Millen took on Smith’s role in the middle of the back three and Keogh, although wearing no. 9, was playing behind Hinds and Convery. There was also a welcome return by Jack Ross on the right.

Clyde had their traditional bright start with Convery making most of the runs. However the first 45 minutes didn’t offer much excitement for the fans. Clyde’s attempts were limited to a header from Dunn and a shot from Convery. It was good to see that at least Clyde were competing well. Keogh was making the type of tackles that had been missed in his spell up front although his aerial prowess was missed. The midfield looked more solid with Fraser having a steady debut. Airdrie weren’t firing on all cylinders and Coyle was offside countless times. It doesn’t take much to make him fall over either, which was to cost Airdrie later on in the game.

Clyde didn’t make any changes at half time and found themselves under pressure straight away. Coyle had a good shout for a penalty but given his performance in the first half the referee decided to book him instead for diving. You reap what you sow. Clyde had started to get back into the game when Airdrie scored. Some slick passing found Roberts in the box and he buried the ball past Halliwell. Clyde started to creak and Smith somehow missed from in front of goal. Coyle also had a chance but shot high and wide. A tired Ross was replaced by Bingham. Then the game turned. Dunn found space down the left and clipped in an early cross. Convery met the ball powerfully with his head for the equaliser. Everybody took a deep breath and expected an Airdrie onslaught, but instead Clyde went straight back up the park and scored again. In a mirror image move the early cross was curled in by Bingham on the right. The Airdrie keeper came out to collect it but could only get a hand to it and the ball broke towards goal. Mitchell was on hand to stab the ball home from one yard out. After that the game opened up as Airdrie went for broke, but it was Clyde who came nearest to scoring. Crawford and Di Gregorio had came on to replace Hinds and Fraser and it was Crawford who was put through on goal. With the ball bouncing high just outside the box the keeper came out to beat Crawford to the ball. At best he handled the ball outside the box, at worst he cynically flattened Crawford in the process. He escaped with a yellow card. Clyde saw out a nervous last few minutes for an unexpected victory.

This will be a great boost for the game next week. In general the team looked much more solid. Millen looks much better in defence than midfield and Kernaghan did well to counter the giant Kevin James at the set piece. Convery is coming on to a game and the goal will boost his confidence even further. Airdrie remain a bit of a mystery. With huge debts and a small support how can they afford the wages of Coyle, Roberts and McFarlane?