Clyde v Brechin City

Recap

The heightened sense of expectancy around Broadwood following a host of new additions quickly diminished on Saturday as Brechin City ran out comfortable winners in a game ruined by a controversial refereeing decision.

The Bully Wee included all of their new additions bar goalkeeper Scott Findlay, with Ally Park and Marvyn Wilson also returning after injury. The changes saw a return to a 4-4-2 formation, with Connor Cassidy on the left of midfield.

The first quarter of the match was even, with neither side troubling the opposition’s goalkeepers. A weak Willie McLachlan free-kick was comfortably stopped by Craig Nelson, whilst a long range blast from Charlie King failed to hit the target. Mark Docherty then saw a shot blocked by Park. New signing John Stewart was then booked for blocking an attempt to take a quick free kick.

Brechin had perhaps started to take control of the game when the key moment of the match occurred. A long punt forward by Willie Dyer was caught just outside his penalty area by Callum Reidford. The officials correctly awarded a free-kick but then also flashed a red card in Reidford’s direction, despite the fact that there was no clear goal-scoring opportunity. This gave an early chance for Findlay to impress, with Cassidy being sacrificed to bring him on.

The Glebe Park men then looked even more comfortable and got themselves in front before the interval. A neat passing move ended with top scorer Rory McAllister moving clear in the box and his shot appeared to be deflected by Park over the goalkeeper.

Sadly, the half-time break failed to cause any change to Clyde’s fortunes as Brechin sealed the game within a minute of the restart. Another decent move ended with McAllister turning away from Kinniburgh to set up Docherty on the edge of the box and the wide midfielder drilled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.

At this point, the score-line could conceivably have ended up reaching embarrassing levels but fortunately the away team settled for just one more goal. Another good move ended with a weak clearance by Willie McLachlan that fell for Gary Fusco and the midfielder’s long range shot skipped underneath Findlay.

Clyde’s solitary attempt in the game came from substitute Steven Howarth, on for Willie Sawyers. Howarth picked the ball up wide on the left, drove past Richard Walker and thumped in a shot that Nelson did well to save. In truth, only Brechin taking their foot off the gas saved Clyde from more embarrassment and a terrific Park tackle kept out Cowan as he burst into the box.

This game saw the Bully Wee fall even further behind in the race for 8th spot. The midfield balance did not work and only Howarth of the attacking players looked to have any drive or ability. The next two matches of the season are against the sides that can be most realistically caught in the battle to avoid the play-offs – both are must wins.