Clyde v Peterhead

Recap

Peterhead heaped more misery on Clyde as their struggles on the park continued with defeat at New Douglas Park.

Stuart Carswell, Barry Cuddihy and Euan Cameron rejoined the starting lineup in place of Ross Forbes, Peter Grant and Dylan Duncan as Brian McLean named three changes to his side.

The Bully Wee enjoyed a blistering start to the match as they opened the scoring after just five minutes on the clock. After taking advantage of a dropped ball, Conor Scullion bypassed a defender to send it in the direction of the nearby post, where Fraser Malcolm was on hand to dink a quickfire header into the net.

The early stages were increasingly tight between the sides, with the hosts carrying more of a cutting edge in advancing up the park. Malcolm fancied his chances in doubling his goal tally in the 16^th minute, but his long-distance effort was adequately saved by the ‘keeper. Meanwhile, Cameron Mulvanny was next to try his luck, but his shot rebounded off McKenzie, before being cleared.

However, the match soon reverted back to level terms as Peterhead equalised in the 22nd minute. Clyde were left floundering after a long cross was catapulted into the box, which enabled O’Keefe to deliver a composed finish beyond Jack Leighfield and into the far corner from close range.

The hosts were then forced into a premature substitution five minutes later as Ross Lyon was brought on for Jon Craig, adding another name to their growing injury list. As proceedings entered the last quarter of the first half, The Blue Toon were growing into the game and squandered an opportunity to go in front. An unmarked Ritchie fired a shot at goal from the edge of the box, but it bruised the woodwork.

However, the visitors were to reap the rewards for their dominance as they took the lead on the stroke of half time. Clyde were unable to clear their lines as Shanks caught onto O’Keefe’s low cross into the box to drill the ball past Leighfield.

After the restart, the visitors were the more determined to carry a threat going forward as Clyde were struggling to break out of their own half. In the 52^nd minute, Goldie squared to Ritchie in the centre of the box, however, his effort was calmly collected by the ‘keeper, while Shanks squeezed the ball across the goalmouth to Ward, whose shot was blocked by Leighfield.

Leighfield also prevented Joe McKee in the 75^th minute after he weaved into the centre of the box, but his effort was blocked by the ‘keeper.

Tempers came to a head with sixminutes of normal time remaining as both teams were reduced to 10 men. An angry reaction to Erik Sula’s foul on Shanks inbetween the dugout areas meant the Clyde defender was shown a second yellow card, while the Peterhead striker was issued with a straight red for violent conduct.

In the concluding minutes, there was little worth of note as the visitors continued to exert overall control to secure the three points.