Clyde v Motherwell

Recap

Well there goes another cup campaign. Leaving Broadwood it felt like once again we hadn’t done ourselves justice against a team from the SPL. To get anything from this game Clyde had to pressurize a young Well team into mistakes. For large parts of the game Clyde competed well enough but in the last 10 minutes, when the game was out of reach, did they create chances at the business end of the park. Sadly the finishing was poor unlike a certain Mr McFadden who lived up to his billing with two well taken goals.

In front of a much larger than usual crowd Clyde began with their usual formation. Both teams looked nervous as they constantly lost possession in the middle of the park. Clyde had a couple of very speculative efforts from long range which only betrayed how tight they felt. Motherwell had the first real chance that was parried by Halliwell who in the subsequent scramble must have caught a heel to the head. He continued as Motherwell then put a free header over the bar but then indicated something wasn’t right. So it was a baptism of fire for Alan Morrison the substitute keeper. Clyde were finding it hard to make much progress and too often the ball ended up with Potter on the right and he was expected to make the telling pass. He is of course a stout defender but not a subtle play maker. Hagen darted into the box and fired wide but that’s about as good as it got. With half time looming Motherwell took the lead. Clyde lost possession in the middle of the park and the ball was stabbed forward to McFadden. Potter was caught the wrong side of him and he advanced into the box and put a shot across Morrison into the corner of the net. Clyde almost struck back immediately when McConalogue sprang the offside. Running clear towards goal he doubted his pace, checked, steadied himself and then shot tamely into the arms of the keeper.

Clyde didn’t change things at half time although they soon would. The game restarted in much the same fashion with neither side dominating and not much action. After only 7 minutes McConalogue was substituted by the more physical Shields. Falconer was to follow 10 minutes later being replaced by Convery. So 15 minutes into the second half Clyde had used all 3 substitutes leaving some very experienced legs to run the full game. Midway through the half Motherwell began to take control and the action began to hot up around the Clyde goal. Morrison proved up to the task and Clyde were still in with a chance. Clyde started to press numbers forward and that proved their downfall. Everybody went up leaving Potter and Mensing marking McFadden on the halfway line. The ball was cleared up to him. He turned and left Potter in his wake and then flicked the ball inside past Mensing and he had the whole of the Clyde half to himself. He steadied himself at the edge of the box and curled a controlled shot past Morrison. There seemed no way back for Clyde but at least they tried. Shields made a chance for himself in the box but with the goal at his mercy he shot wide form about 6 yards out. Convery put himself in a similar position but couldn’t get his shot off quickly enough. By the end Kernaghan had joined the front line and when presented with a chance at the edge of the box he too fired it too near the keeper. Then at the death Potter could only volley into the keeper’s chest when a corner broke to him.

In all it was not a classic cup tie and Clyde must wonder why they couldn’t apply pressure until it was too late. Cosgrove and Shields did there chances no harm at all and Morrison has been blooded at last.

STAR RATINGS (*****)

Halliwell (***) One fine save then off to the hospital.
Morrison (***) Couple of nervous moments but stuck to the task.
Potter (***) Battled away but caught by McFadden for both goals.
Mensing (***) Stuck to his task but looked a bit clumsy at times.
Kernaghan (***) Usual standard but maybe trying too hard.
Kane (**) Combative but a real struggle against the young legs.
Ross (**) Very subdued from the normally energetic wingback.
Hagen (****) Always a threat and still going strong at 90 minutes.
Millen (**) Quiet game form the engine room.
Falconer (**) Little service to work from.
Cosgrove (****) Fine performance from the man with something to prove.
McConalogue (**) Fluffed his chance but again had little service.
Morrison (**) Did well considering and had little chance with either goal.
Shields (***) Bustling performance that bodes well for the future.
Convery (**) Usual buzz but didn’t see the ball much.

REACTION

Alan Kernaghan: "I thought we played ok, but we never got behind them once all day really, that was a big point for us. We didn’t really get any telling crosses into the box either, and it took until 85 minutes before we had a decent effort on goal. We passed the ball about ok but lacked a bit of killer instinct."

Stephen Cosgrove: "We’re very disappointed to be out the Cup, it didn’t really happen for us today. Maybe McFadden was the difference between the two teams. I thought we passed and kept the ball quite well, but didn’t create enough chances. They didn’t create many either but they’ve taken two. I don’t think there is much difference in quality between the two sides, except maybe one or two players, but they are playing at a higher level every week. Hopefully we’ll learn from this and move on.

"Every game I play at the moment I’m trying to prove to the Manager that I should be in the team every week, and I still feel there’s a lot more to come. The more games you play the sharper you get so hopefully I can keep my place on Tuesday."