Clyde v Elgin City

Recap

Clyde failed to pick up three points at Broadwood Stadium as another series of missed chances meant that Elgin left with a point from their first trip to the ground.

The Bully Wee were without suspended pair Ross McMillan and Graham Girvan, whilst Bryan Dingwall dropped to the bench. Replacing the trio were strikers Willie Sawyers and John Stewart, along with Kevin Finlayson. There was also a change in goals, with Jordan Allan starting in place of J.C. Hutchison.

After the loss against Montrose, there was an obvious appetite to regain some pride within the Clyde team and all of the early play was towards the away goal. Stewart, given his first start of the season, was inches away from knocking home Finlayson’s cross, before the same combination resulted in a Stewart header being comfortably stopped by Scott Bain.

After Park saw an effort deflected past the post, Elgin threatened for the first time. A long ball forward slipped past Alan Lithgow but the quickly advancing Allan put off Brian Cameron and the striker poked his effort past the post. Park then curled a left-footed shot over the crossbar, before Clyde came within inches of the lead. Home debutant Nicki Paterson swept the ball out to Strachan on the left wing and the Clyde captain cut inside the full back before curling in a shot that Bain fumbled onto the inside of his post.

Elgin top scorer, Craig Gunn, then passed up a glorious chance to score himself as he was given space inside the penalty area, only for Allan to produce a terrific block. From the resulting barrage of corner kicks, Marc Nicholson was denied by the back of Murray Henderson’s head.

Into the second half and again it was Clyde making all of the running. Some nice play between Strachan and Ricky Waddell resulted in the latter producing a cross that Sawyers headed towards goal, only for Bain to save well. Finlayson was then unable to convert the rebound.

However, as has been the case in numerous games this season, the opposition were to punish missed chances by converting one of their few opportunities. There seemed to be little danger as Barry Wilson ran into the penalty box, only for Henderson to slide in and bring down the ex-Inverness winger. Wilson dusted himself down and sent Allan the wrong way from the spot.

The Bully Wee looked shocked by this and struggled to regain a hold of the game, however that changed after a moment of controversy. A poor tackle on Finlayson resulted in only a yellow card for the Elgin player and left the Clyde player unable to continue. He was replaced by Connor Stevenson, with Neil McGowan and Dingwall coming on for Stewart and Sawyers in a triple substitution that saw Strachan move up front. Within minutes Clyde were level and again, it was from the penalty spot. Lithgow appeared to be fouled as he challenged for Sweeney’s long throw but as play continued, Strachan skipped past a tackle and fired in a shot that was blocked by Jamie Duff’s hand. The skipper picked up the ball and slotted past Bain to restore parity.

The final opportunity of the game was to fall Clyde’s way and it was a terrific chance to take all three points. A good passing move ended with Strachan passing the ball to the unmarked Sweeney but from 10 yards he could only direct his shot against Bain’s legs.