Cove Rangers v Clyde

Recap

Defensive frailties saw Clyde suffer a 5-2 defeat at Cove Rangers this evening despite a more encouraging performance in the forward areas.

Brian McLean made three changes to his side, with Jack Leighfield coming into goals for his debut, whilst there were also starts for Peter Grant and Conor Scullion. Neil Parry, Logan Dunachie and Cameron Mulvanny dropped to the bench along with Dylan Duncan, who came on for a second half debut.

Cove opened the scoring in the 13th minute following a defensive mix-up. Jack Leighfield came from his goal to claim a long ball but Josh McCulloch headered it past him, allowing Kyle Connell to tap into an empty net.

Clyde equalised seven minutes later after Ross Forbes was upended in the box. Martin Rennie stepped up to the spot and knocked the ball past Balint Demus.

The hosts regained their lead a minute later. A low cross into the box was converted by Rumarn Burrell at close range.

The Toonsers doubled their advantage in the 26th minute. A free-kick was played to the back post where Mark Reynolds was on hand to header the ball back across goal, and Burrell was there again to prod home.

The Bully Wee had two good opportunities in the closing stages of the first half from corners with Peter Grant and Erik Sula both connecting to Forbes’ deliveries, but those chances went over the bar and hit the woodwork respectively.

Clyde came out for the second half with their tails up and put the hosts under pressure for the majority of the second 45. Euan Cameron’s ball into the box clipped the post, Conor Scullion’s shot went narrowly wide after cutting into the box and Rennie also had a powerful shot from distance saved.

Cove were awarded a soft penalty after Gavin Duncan deemed McCulloch to have held a forward’s shirt in the box. Burrell took the spot kick but saw his effort cannon off the crossbar and bounce down on the line before Sula cleared.

Conor Scullion had another effort saved by Demus before Cove put the game to bed with their first real attack of the second period in the 81st minute. Connell was played in with a diagonal pass, and he cut back inside to curl a shot into the top corner past the stretch of Leighfield.

They added another two minutes later after Mitch Megginson found the bottom corner of the net with a low drive from the edge of the area.

Clyde pulled one back within a minute after Cameron Mulvanny was played through on goal. His first effort was saved by Demus but he reacted quickly and slammed the ball past a defender on the line.