Clyde v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Recap

A point against one of the more fancied teams in this league may appear acceptable, but this was a disappointing performance in front of a disappointing crowd (quoted at only 920). Clyde are a settled side and should have hit the ground running, but instead they produced a home performance that was reminiscent of so many poor home games last season. Inverness were also a pale shadow of the bright attacking team they usually are.

As expected there were no surprises in the line up, with everybody looking for Hinds to do the damage. Instead Hinds did the damage to himself after only 15 minutes. In shaping up to shoot he fell in a heap and took no further part in the game. Reserve striker, Brian Crawford, probably couldn’t believe his luck. Both sides were struggling to trouble each other with some very poor passing. The fluency of the pre-season had deserted Clyde and strangely players like Millen (the most experienced man on the part) looked hesitant in their passing. Only Convery came close to scoring with a neat header.

In the absence of any constructive teamplay it looked like individual skill would break the deadlock. Brian Crawford collected a quick throw in, held off the mighty presence of Bobby Mann and crashed the ball into the roof of the net from an acute angle. Clyde tried to drive the advantage home but headers from Mitchell and Crawford caused little concern in the Inverness ranks. At the other end Halliwell had very little to do although he had to come off his line quickly on a couple of occasions.

The second half began and it didn’t take long for Inverness to restore parity. Only a couple of minutes had passed when Bavidge sprang the offside and was felled by Halliwell. Bobby Mann made no mistake form the spot and it was game on. Inverness began to get on top and Clyde were reverting to just banging the ball clear for it to come straight back at them. One attack saw a shot fired straight at Halliwell. To his embarrassment Halliwell let it go through him and only recovered the ball on the line. The keepers kicking was a bit suspect all day as well and he must be looking to improve. Despite being pressed back Clyde did have the odd good break and a slick move involving Dunn and McClay saw Convery shoot just wide.

This is where I hold my hand up and end the report. It was my daughter’s (4yr) first ever game and with 20 minutes to go she had really had enough. Sorry folks but a man can only take so much grief from his offspring! Just as well there were no more goals to report.

Overall a reasonably solid defensive display, but the midfield wasn’t pressing and supplying the ammunition on a regular basis. When Mitchell is shackled there is little sparkle from this team. There is heaps of heart and honest endeavour, but the flair to open up teams isn’t there.