Clyde v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Recap

Clyde manager Alan Kernaghan surprised everyone by picking himself in the centre of the back three for the visit of Inverness. While it is difficult to tell if this was a contributing factor in Clyde demolishing the until now high-flying highlanders who were scoring goals for fun, it was a delight for the long suffering home support to see their team rack up only their second win of the campaign.

Clyde started confidently, looking to build on last week’s performance in Falkirk. Only two minutes were on the clock when Pat Keogh played a through ball looking for Leigh Hinds. Inverness keeper Mark Brown beat him to the ball on this occasion but it was an early indication of how easily Clyde would rip through the visitors defence all afternoon. Clyde hearts were in their mouths twice in the first ten minutes. Weak clearances by Bryn Halliwell should have been punished but neither Dennis Wyness nor Anthony Low could capitalise. Kernaghan almost put his side in front on 15 minutes but was frustrated to see his header from a David Hagen corner crash off the bar. Two minutes shy of the half-hour Colin Nish headed a Paul Kane free kick just over, however with in a minute the on-loan Dunfermline striker was celebrating his first goal for The Bully Wee. A Keogh square ball reached Andy Millen on the edge of the Inverness box courtesy of a slip by Stuart Golabek. Millen played the ball into Nish who stroked the ball home. Nish was looking for goals and was unlucky to see Bobby Mann block his shot after he had turned Barry Robson, next he smashed a shot into the side netting after doing well to control a Jack Ross cross. Right on half-time Nish did put Clyde two up. A Mensing ball forward was missed by everyone, Nish collected it before steadying himself and firing low past Brown.

Clyde obviously felt the hard work was done and allowed Inverness to come onto them in the second half. Caley’s prolific scorer Paul Ritchie in particular should have cost the Kernaghan marshalled defence their clean sheet. Nine minutes after the restart, Ritchie saw a shot blocked, it spun out to the impressive Low who was making his first start of the season but as the defence stood static the right-winger scooped the ball over the bar. Ritchie then headed a Wyness cross wide. Hinds should have put the result beyond doubt on 67 minutes but after running from the half way line, he was too greedy and instead of playing in Ross elected to cut inside and hit a weak shot at Brown. Five minutes later Ritchie squandered his side’s best chance. Unmarked at the back post he could only look on as horror as his header from Low’s cross rebounded off the post. On another day, Halliwell would have been forced to pick the ball out of the net but this was to be Clyde’s day and after this wake up call they set about getting a third. Nish should have had his hat-trick but took too long to set himself after being played in by substitute Steve Convery and Brown blocked. Nish was then booked for diving by going down with Bobby Mann `in attendance’; referee Mike McCurry was rightly unimpressed. Ten minutes from the end it was 3-0. Another Clyde substitute John Fraser broke down the right and delivered in a dangerous cross that Convery powered home with his head, diving through two Caley defenders. Volleys from Ross and Convery could have made the score-line more emphatic but Brown saved on both occasions. The last word could have gone to Kernaghan but he blasted high and wide after collecting a Hagen corner.

All in all Clyde got the win that their recent form has merited. With Kernaghan settling the defence down they never looked in any danger of losing a goal let alone the game. And, with Colin Nish building on last weeks improved performance at Brockville to grab a couple of goals, the future is looking a little brighter for the Bully Wee support

REACTION

ALAN KERNAGHAN – I don’t know who the young centre-half that came in today was but he will be absolutely bollocks for the next 3 days! I’m really pleased, I could have fallen flat on my face today but was determined not to and thankfully the rest of the players put in a good performance. We got what has been coming eventually. We need to build on this now because that is 8 games down the pan up until now, barring the Ayr win. Colin Nish should take some confidence from today and in fact could have scored more. I’m pleased for Stevie Convery as well, he’s been desperate to play and he’s came in and taken his chance. They had the lions share of possesion in the second half so we had to drop off and deny them space in behind. Most of their efforts were from long range although they did hit the post. We dealt with most things though. I decided to play because I felt we needed someone to go in and shout and yell and organise them. Bryan Smith has been suffering from a lack of confidence as a few players have. It was touch and go whether I’d play or Bryan would play but I decided to give it a go. If it’s needed I will play again, but I’m not getting carried away. We’ll see what happens next week but John Potter is back. Mark McLaughlin may also be available but we’ll need to wait until during the week to see how he is. Cosgrove and McConalogue are part of the squad and will get their chance at some stage. Injuries will come along and it’s a squad game. I left everything to Billy today, we spoke about it yesterday.

COLIN NISH – I thought I was quite unlucky last week not to score, but today I got an open goal and it is just what I was needing. Hopefully I can now build on that and score a few more for Clyde. I don’t think I did that much apart from the goals though. I should have had a hat-trick but I took an extra touch when I should have just hit it and the goalie has come out and blocked my shot. I think this result has been coming ever since I came but we have had no luck at all. I’m really enjoying it here at Clyde, the training is brilliant and it’s a great dressing room.

STEVIE CONVERY – I’m happy to score, but the most important thing is the victory. The clean sheet was the important thing today – being solid at the back gave us the confidence to go and score goals. I thought Nish and Leigh Hinds played well today so all I can do is score when I get the chance. It has been frustrating sitting on the bench but Alan has told me I’ll get my chance so I’ve just got to keep plugging away. It’s hard for the part-time players to fit into the team on a Saturday, but all we can do is try our best. It was a great cross by John Fraser for my goal.

STEVIE PATERSON – We’ve been playing the best football during my time at the club recently, but today was by far our worst of the season. We were slow to start and 2-0 at half-time was well merited by Clyde. They were by far the hungrier team. I was impressed by Clyde today, they played really well and it was maybe partly that that made us look so poor. They showed a real appetite for the game and basically outplayed us in all departments. Nish and Hinds gave our centre backs a torrid time, their midfield was sharper and they were organised at the back.