Clyde v Partick Thistle

Recap

Clyde started the New Year with a game against traditional rivals Partick Thistle, who were still not fully clear of the flu virus that had caused the unorthodox postponement of their previous fixture. A fit again Bryson joined Masterton in midfield with O’Donnell dropping to the bench.

Clyde started by far the brighter and had a decent shout for a penalty when Arbuckle beat McChrystal to the ball in the box, but his appeals were turned down. The visitor’s defence seemed to be lacking organization, and it almost led to a Clyde goal, when their failure to clear the ball, saw Malone break into the box, only to fire straight at Arthur.

Thistle then created their first chance, when the usually tight Clyde defence allowed Brown Ferguson to ghost in on the far side but he blasted his volley over from a flick on in the box.

This spurred the Bully Wee on, and after McHale had superbly set McGowan free on the right, his drilled cross was allowed to squirm free by Arthur, but the ball was cleared to safety much to the goalie’s relief. The relief was short lived however. A long ball from defence saw Malone chest the ball down well, before being thwarted by Robertson’s tackle. The ball remained in play, and Robertson brought down Malone attempting to complete his clearance. Malone caught the napping Thistle defence out by rolling the ball into the path of Masterton who drilled the ball home from 18 yards. A just reward for Clyde’s enterprising start.

The only other chance of the half saw Imrie blast over from inside the box. In attempting to block the effort Thistle’s Boyd was very unfortunate to injure himself, and was stretchered off.

The second half had barely started when Clyde doubled their lead. Once again from a free kick and once again, Masterton was instrumental. After Imrie had won a foul at the nearside, Masterton whipped in the most inviting cross and saw an unmarked McKeown with the easy task of nodding in.

The remainder of the half, would see the action almost entirely in the Thistle half, as Imrie had a couple of shots saved, McGowan come close and sub Ferguson almost adding a spectacular third moments after coming on. All this was accomplished with Clyde playing well within themselves and controlling the possession of the ball, without ever looking in any danger.

Thistle’s robust McCulloch saw red at the death, for two justified yellow cards, as the visitor’s frustration boiled over.