Clyde v The Spartans

Recap

Clyde’s dismal start to the campaign continued this afternoon, as an all-too-familiar marriage of profligate finishing and sloppy defending saw The Spartans extend their unbeaten run against The Bully Wee to ten games.

Darren Young made four changes from the side that lost to Celtic B on Tuesday, with Sam Campbell, Mouhamed Niang, James Hilton and Marley Redfern all coming into the starting eleven. Barry Cuddihy and Craig Howie were still carrying knocks but took places on the bench.

Following a fairly even opening period, the home side started to threaten and made good on their mounting pressure in the twelfth minute. Darren Lyon played a superb defence-splitting pass from deep which found Redfern, and his first-time delivery into the box was smartly converted from close range by Taylor Sutherland.

Buoyed by the goal, Clyde remained in the ascendancy and soon had a glorious opportunity to double their lead. Sutherland was played clean through and tried to dink the ball over Paddy Martin, but the advancing Spartans ‘keeper stood tall and blocked it.

In the immediate aftermath of that missed chance, a long ball forward caught out the Bully Wee defence and Mark Stowe raced in behind, upstaging Sutherland with a fine lob over Jay Hogarth to equalise.

Clyde responded well and their high pressure yielded another opportunity when Sutherland played in Niang, whose loose touch in the box denied him a better angle for a strike. Moments later, the biggest chance of the game went begging when the ball broke for the former in an acre of space in the box; however, having taken his time to compose himself and pick his spot, he somehow sent his effort over the crossbar.

That was to prove the game’s turning point, as Spartans soon took the lead with their second real opportunity of the afternoon. Poor communication at the back meant that a seemingly innocuous ball across the Clyde area was left by everyone apart from Spartans’ Bradley Whyte, who stole in at the back post to prod home.

The visitors, having started the second half on top, made sure of the points ten minutes after the break as Stowe – whose pace caused major problems for Clyde’s defence from the first whistle – stole in behind a static defensive line, bearing down on goal before lifting it over the stranded Hogarth and securing his brace from close range.

Clyde came back into things but struggled to create anything of note in the final half hour, despite making double and then triple substitutions. Kyle Connell looked the home side’s greatest threat in the closing stages and came closest to setting up an interesting finale when his powerful curling strike was well-saved by Martin.