Clyde v Alloa Athletic

Recap

Clyde are now literally on the verge of relegation as a clinical display by league leaders Alloa Athletic saw Allan Maitland’s side increase their advantage at the top of the table.

Neil Watt’s first team selection saw Alan Lithgow return alongside Ally Park in central defence, with Neil McGowan moving to left-back. There was also a first start for Dmitrijs Borisovs as Marvyn Wilson dropped to the bench.

After the defeat against Arbroath, there was a noticeable lack of nerves from the Bully Wee and throughout the match they played some good football, helped by the passing ability of the midfield pairing of Aleksandrs Gramovics and Connor Stevenson.

Alloa’s first chance was a good one as Bryan Prunty fired high over the cross bar from just 10 yards out after a good cross from Brown Ferguson. Despite Borisovs in particular looking lively, the next clear opportunity was to fall to Alloa as a cross was flicked towards goal, only for Reidford to spring to his left and tip the ball past the post.

Again, Borisovs threatened with a neat turn and shot in the box, albeit the shot trickled into David Crawford’s hands. Despite Clyde being very much in charge, Alloa took the lead as a neat one-two between Prunty and Stuart Noble ended with the latter firing home through Reidford’s legs from what looked like an offside position.

The away team proceeded to sit back and defend their lead and for much of the rest of the match, all of the chances fell to Clyde. Their first big opportunity fell to midfielder Stevenson but after a neat knockdown by Sawyers, the youngster fired straight at Crawford from 12 yards when he had time to pick his spot. Then, a glorious chance just before half-time fell to Jordan White but after pulling down Adam Strachan’s cross inside the six yard box he somehow slotted the ball past the post.

White was to have two further opportunities in the second half with a couple of headers. The first was well tipped over the bar by Crawford, whilst the second, after a corner by Gramovics, didn’t trouble the goalkeeper. Clyde then surprisingly withdrew the impressive Borisovs for John Stewart. At this point, the Bully Wee almost appeared to have ran out of ideas but a thunderous strike by Gramovics that was deflected onto the inside of the post briefly raised the home team’s hopes but the rebound fell nicely for the Wasps and was swiftly cleared.

With Clyde throwing men forward, the away side clinched the game on the break as Lithgow missed a through ball and Prunty showed admirable composure to round Reidford and slot into the empty net. The Bully Wee’s lack of a cutting edge was then shown once more in stoppage time as substitute Cassidy’s cross was headed past the post by Sawyers.

Once more, Clyde showed that they have some ability in this side but their disappointing lack of composure in the final third was again exposed. The midfield had a good balance but we’ve seen before this season that Alloa are a team that allow the opposition to play a bit of football. Perhaps the most encouraging thing to take from recent matches is the continued development of Connor Stevenson and the further experience gained in the centre half position by Ally Park.