Clyde v Macclesfield Town

Recap

Halliwell
Mensing Balmer Fotheringham
McCracken Hudson(trialist) Sheridan(trialist) Gibson Bryson
Gilhaney Arbuckle(trialist)
Subs: Zujovic(trialist) Potter Greenhill Bradley Morrison Doyle McKeever

A Clyde side made up mostly of trialists and youth valiantly held experienced Macclesfield to a 3-3 draw at Broadwood. In front of a decent crowd with a few noisy spectators making the journey up from Cheshire, Clyde started poorly and were a goal down early on. The Silkmen’s top scorer from last season, Matthew Tipton, knocking the ball home in off the bar as a few late comers were still making the way to their seats.

But Clyde quickly found their rhythm and inside five minutes Fotheringham set up Gilhaney but the youngster saw his effort cleared for a corner. The resultant corner was headed out of play for another corner which came to nothing.

After ten minutes, Gibson made space for himself with a lovely turn inside the centre circle but his searching through ball was cleared away for a throw in. And seven minutes later, following two two quick-fire corners, Hudson saw his header trickle past the keepers near post. But inside a minute Clyde were level when the impressive Arbuckle raced through the middle and under a challenge by the defender he went down inside the box. There may not have been a lot of contact but the penalty was tucked away by Fotheringham.

Macclesfield seemed content to sit and soak up any pressure and hit on the counter attack and only two minutes after the equaliser a great break down the left saw a ball whipped in near post but young Craig Bryson got in ahead of the visiting striker to clear for a corner whish was easily taken by Halliwell. And five minutes later Halliwell got down smartly to his right to claw away a powerful shot from Parkin.

Just after the half hour a scramble on the edge of the box saw a Clyde shot blocked but the ref. had already awarded a foul and pulled back the advantage. Gibson stepped up to take the free kick and he got it up and down over the wall and into the bottom corner of the net. Gibson formed a decent partnership with Sheridan in the middle of the park and the goal was a nice reward for his endeavours.

If Clyde are to achieve their aims next season Gibson will be a mainstay of these efforts. Five minutes from the end Arbuckle again broke through but he struggled to control the ball and his shot was again blocked.

The first half was all about Clyde trying to break down a resolute Macclesfield back line but they seemed to lack the necessary guile to trouble them in spite of taking a lead into the break. Sheridan and Gibson did a lot of probing but too often the attacks broke down with Gilhaney the main culprit as he seemed to run out of ideas with his final ball.

Zujovic replaced Gibson at the start of the second half but the Under 21 international struggled to make an impact during the half. He did offer some nice touches but did not see enough of the ball.

Arbuckle seemed the man most likely to and inside five minutes he burst forward beat an offside trap but his ball inside for Zujovic was just a little firm and the keeper was smart off his line to clear. Two minutes later an identical break saw him beat a defender and slip the ball to Gilhaney, but the youngster’s effort on goal was far too weak to trouble the keeper.

Potter and Greenhill replaced the efficient Balmer and Sheridan with just more than ten minutes gone and a minute later it was 2-2 after Parkin got on the end of a free kick and his free header easily beat Halliwell.

The response to this was to replace the ineffective Hudson with Paul Doyle as the second half became like an England international as both managers used the game as the chance to look at their players with several substitutions. Neither side was offering much upfront though a Fotheringham chip just scraped the top of the cross bar just after he became the only player booked all evening with a somewhat rash challenge on the impressive Parkin. 

On the half hour Craig Bryson was replaced by Kevin Bradley and Morrison came on for Halliwell, and like Halliwell in the first half, his first touch of the ball was to pick it out the net as another headed goal, from midfielder Neil Morgan, made it 3-2 to the visitors.

The game looked to be heading for a victory to Macclesfield but, with only five minutes left, a long ball from defence saw Arbuckle round the keeper and shoot home from a tight angle.

The trialist was the best player on the night and his efforts were rightly awarded with his goal. With Ian Harty not playing due to injury, and his immediate future still not settled, Arbuckle looks like a player who could offer a good option up front.

All in all the game was a good exercise, but Billy Reid will be concerned about his leaky defence particularly from cross balls.