Clyde v Elgin City

Recap

Clyde secured their first three points under Brian McLean with an enthralling performance at New Douglas Park against Elgin City this afternoon.

Connor Young made his debut in a Clyde jersey as the Head Coach made three changes from the defeat in Methil. Kian Leslie also made his first start since returning from injury, while Stuart Carswell replaced the injured Barry Cuddihy.

It was a closely contested start to the match with neither side managing to create clear cut chances. A goalbound corner from Clyde’s Alex King in the fifth minute was cleared, while Dingwall’s effort on the edge of the box for the visitors flew wide off the target.

Having said that, The Bully Wee were more intent going forward and opened the deadlock in the 15^th minute. Young maintained possession of the ball to square a slick pass to Darren Hynes, who paved the path for Martin Rennie to rifle the ball home from the centre of the box.

The home side, rejuvenated by their promising start, doubled their advantage five minutes later. King was left unmarked as he swept the ball from the halfway line and launched a venomous strike from 25 yards which rocketed into the top of the net.

The hosts’ continued their onslaught on the visitor’s half as Rennie came agonisingly close to securing a brace. The striker connected onto Darren Hynes’ corner, but he was unable to position his header at goal.

As the match progressed, Elgin were slowly beginning to ascertain a presence, but were unable to bypass a coherent Clyde defence. Harvey sent in a cross from a few yards out, but King quicky intercepted. The striker then squandered another opportunity in the 35^th minute as his effort soared over the bar.

There was little worth of note as the opening period drew to a close with the home players receiving a round of applause for their dominant first half performance.

Clyde were determined to exploit inconsistencies in Elgin’s defence with a barrage of attacks in the initial minutes after the restart. Hynes took advantage of McHale’s goal kick to attempt an effort from range, but he misjudged the height of the ball. Meanwhile, King unleashed a dangerous corner which whistled over the goalmouth, but it was too fast for Logan Dunachie to connect. Young then tried his luck after he pounced on a loose ball from the edge of the box, but it went narrowly wide.

Despite that, the hosts’ were left to curse their missed opportunities to add to the scoreboard when Elgin pulled a goal back on the cusp of the hour mark. When stretching out to clear a low cross into the box, Erik Sula inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net.

The hosts were then facing the possibility of squandering their lead in the 63^rd minute when Sula fouled an Elgin player in the box. However, Dingwall catapulted the ball over the bar from the penalty spot to preserve the scoreline.

After surviving a flurry of attacks in the hosts’ half in the 72^nd minute, Leslie broke free to sprint up the park and drive into the box with alarming pace, but an opposition defender was on hand to tuck his powerful shot past the post.

As the match reached the final minutes of normal time, action was on slightly more of an even kneel with both teams seeking opportunities at each end. Leighfield was on alert to send the ball over the bar after MacLeman attempted to thwart the home defence, while Young drove the ball up the park, but he was unable to shrug past opposition players and seriously test McHale.

In injury time, an unnerved Leighfield denied Dingwall’s effort from inside the box as the Bully Wee remained resilient under late pressure to gain their opening win of the league season.