Clyde v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Santa Claus came to Broadwood bearing gifts in the guise of big Bobby Mann. He missed a penalty and then put the ball in his own net. Clyde’s resources were again stretched to the full as McCusker and Grant filled places on the bench. A forlorn looking Rico warmed up in the full knowledge that it would take nothing short of catastrophe for him to get on the pitch. Halliwell paid the price for last weeks defeat and Keogh was dropped back to midfield. De Gregorio and Hagen filled the wingback roles.

 

Clyde opened the game quite brightly and Keogh had a shot and a header that came close in the first 10 mins. It was Clyde doing most of the pressing but neither keeper had much to worry about. Mitchell began to show some of the form we know he can produce with some fine individual runs. As the half developed Inverness came more into the game and their powerful inswinging corners caused Budd some problems. Christie in particular was starting to pull the strings in midfield that spelled danger for Clyde. Only a fine reflex save from Budd prevented Inverness opening the scoring while at the other end a sweeping move saw Fraser’s powerful shot turned around the post by Nicky Walker.

 

The teams were unchanged after the break and if Clyde fans wondered where the typical fast-breaking Inverness had gone they were soon to find out. A deflected shot came off the top of the bar and then Cranmer conceded a daft penalty. A swift break saw Cranmer with two players around him and no chance of reaching a cross. He almost seemed to catch the ball for as daft a penalty as you will see. The usually reliable Mann strode up and took the kick but Budd guessed correctly and saved to his right. After only 8 mins of the half the manager had seen enough and De Gregorio and Convery were replaced by Hinds and Bingham. De Gregorio was carrying a yellow card and Inverness were exploiting that to the full. Convery was energetic as usual but simply out of touch. With Hinds up front the ball began to stick and with Keogh, Mitchell and Hagen some neat passing resulted. Mitchell made a great run from the touchline only to see his curling shot come off the face of the bar. Then Hinds wriggled his way around the box to fire the ball across goal. Bobby Mann must have wished he was a slimmer figure as he couldn’t get out of the way and the ball deflected into the net.

 

Inverness then tried in vain to get the equaliser as Clyde’s defending became very nervous. Instead of trying to keep the ball Clyde too often were lumping the ball upfield only for it to come straight back. Budd had a couple of fine saves as Clyde clawed their way to full time.

 

Overall a good victory as the player pool was again very stretched. Budd had a fine game in goal and Hinds made a big difference when he came on. McDowell gave plenty of effort but doesn’t look sharp at the moment. Mensing was again very efficient at the back. A win next week and we can approach the New Year with some confidence.