Clyde v St. Johnstone

Recap

CLYDE: Halliwell, Murray, Dunn, Smith, Keogh, Ross, Mitchell, Millen, Hinds, McClay, Convery. SUBS: Aitken, Budinauckas, Cranmer, Miller, A Kane, Crawford.

Same old tune really. With almost the same players in the same positions as last season there wasn’t much new about this game. St. Johnstone came with an experienced team, although they did take the chance to field a number of trialists in the midfield. Both sides were intent in keeping possession with St. Johnstone going to great lengths not to bang the ball up the park. Keegan Parker provided a good workout for the Clyde defence and they won’t face anything like him in the league this season.

Clyde took the lead when Mitchell had his first direct run of the game. He made inroads into the box and the ball broke to Convery to slot home easily. Clyde didn’t hold the lead for long and a free kick saw St. Johnstone’s Murray elude his marker to head home what was really a soft goal to concede. Unfortunately for Clyde, Alan Main in the Saints goal was showing just what a reliable keeper he is. He was much the busier of the keepers and pulled off some fine saves to thwart Clyde.

It was good to see Keogh and McClay back in action and overall everybody who started looked quite sharp. Up front Convery was full of strong running and Hinds was showing a bit more appetite for the ball in the air. Hinds also showed again that he can work a powerful shot from very limited space. Murray, Smith and Keogh looked fairly sound at the back although take away the sparkle of Mitchell and the midfield looks a bit tame.

The second half didn’t really get going and with all the substitutes coming on the game didn’t flow that much. It was good to see Budinaukas finally get a game at Broadwood. Sadly he was only on a few moments when he had to pick the ball out of the net. A free kick was whipped low into the box and Hartley volleyed a fierce shot into the net. Again it was cross that should have been dealt with.

Clyde tried hard to restore parity and Crawford saw a shot come off the base of the post. Kane then had the glaring miss of the night. No less than three Clyde players beat the offside and headed towards Alan Main in the St. Johnstone goal. Kane had taken the ball wide and decided to try and drive the ball through the keeper with two others waiting for a simple pass and a tap in. Main saved and the ball was cleared. Time to take the blinkers off Andy!

Overall it was a good run out although Clyde must start to bury the chances being presented to them. We appear a reasonably strong defensive side. However if the midfield struggles and we have to play a long game we’re going to need some physique up front. A concern is that unless McClay/McCusker/Bingham/Aitken find good form then, Mitchell apart, the midfield looks a bit stodgy – defensively good, but not much in the creativity stakes.

Finally it was "hello" to new signing Kevin Miller. He’s hard to miss. A midfielder with the same physique as Pat Keogh (could be his long lost twin?).