Clyde v Dumbarton

Recap

Clyde crashed to another demoralising defeat last night against a Dumbarton team that only threatened sporadically, yet still scored twice.

John McCormack made one change from Saturday’s defeat against Cowdenbeath with Alan Lithgow replacing John Stewart. This led to a series of tactical switches, with Ally Park moving to right back, Willie McLachlan to right midfield and Lithgow starting in the middle of midfield. Jordan White partnered Kris Doolan up front.

The first major incident of the match saw Willie Kinniburgh bring down Scott Chaplain as he burst through on goal yet somehow the Clyde captain escaped a yellow card. Clyde’s first and perhaps only chance of the half fell to Lithgow but his thumping volley from 25 yards was superbly tipped around the post by Jan Vojacek.

Dumbarton’s main threat came from neat hold-up play by Dennis Wyness and a series of balls played out to winger Stevie Murray. Andy Geggan had their first effort on goal with a volley that deflected off Paddy Boyle and looped comfortably into the hands of Callum Reidford. In the 27th minute though, Boyle was not as lucky. Another good move saw Murray cut inside Park and from his cross, Chaplain knocked the ball down for David Winters to fire in a shot that spun off the left back’s foot and into the corner of the net.

Kinniburgh then picked up his deserved booking for another foul on Chaplain but that was pretty much the action for the first half as quite simply the midfield experiment did not work. The start of the second half was not much better and only a couple of corners gave both sets of fans any excitement. Despite this, Dumbarton managed to double their lead within a couple of minutes of a Clyde double substitution – Stewart and Willie Sawyers replacing Doolan and White. A neat passing move down the left hand side ended with a cross to the back post by Mick Dunlop and with a host of Dumbarton players waiting to finish the chance, it was Winters who reacted quickest to stab home his second goal.

This understandably deflated both the home team and support but Stewart had an unbelievable chance to get Clyde back into the game. Played clean through on goal, the striker attempted to take the ball past Vojacek only to trip himself up in the process and give the ‘keeper and easy save. Dmitrijs Borisovs then replaced Lithgow and almost netted immediately with a low shot that went just past the post; the Sons’ Chris Smith was booked for a foul on Sawyers in the build-up.

The final minutes saw a McLachlan free kick blocked twice by the wall, whilst Borisovs had another great chance with only the ‘keeper to beat but the ball’s bounce meant that his volley was a difficult one and against Vojacek comfortably saved. The final opportunity fell to Dumbarton’s Derek Carcary but after the substitute had raced past Neil McGowan, his left-footed shot flew past the post.