Dundee v Clyde

Recap

Clyde’s good away form wasn’t enough for them to take anything against a Dundee side that picked up a crucial win in their attempts to catch league leaders Hamilton.

The Bully Wee started with the same line-up that took a brilliant three points in the midweek game with St Johnstone, although Marvyn Wilson replaced Steven Masterton on the bench. Dundee were without goalscoring strikers Colin McMenamin and Mikael Antoine Curier but still fielded a strong, powerful line-up.

The early stages of the match saw play move pleasingly from one end to another but with the first opportunity of the game, Dundee took the lead. Bob Davidson went down easily under a Dusan Bestvina tackle and from the resulting free kick, Derek Lyle saw his powerful effort parried by David Hutton back into the danger area, where David O’Brien had the easy task of tapping home.

Perhaps buoyed by the confidence gained from the midweek victory, Clyde didn’t fold like they have in numerous games this season. Gary Arbuckle was causing problems with his pace up front and twice spurned decent opportunities to get a strike on goal. As expected, the best efforts were coming from Jorg Albertz set pieces and Clyde won three free kicks in good areas over the course of a five minute period. The first saw him surprise the crowd with a neat dinked pass that almost released McGregor before he went for a powerful strike that was blocked by the wall with his second strike. His final attempt was the best of the three; a swerving drive from out on the touchline that cracked off the crossbar. Clyde also had a header from a corner cleared off of the line, however, Dundee also had good chances that were spurned by Lyle and Freddie Daquin.

Unfortunately for Clyde, the half ended with Arbuckle succumbing to an injury and his departure signalled a change in the away side’s fortunes. David MacKay replaced him and there was a further change at the interval, with Wilson replacing Michael McGowan in a change that saw Billy Gibson moving to right wingback.

Dundee came out clearly determined to score a second goal but a lack of quality meant that they failed to create many good opportunities. Lyle hit a powerful strike over the cross bar and Gary McKenzie missed a close range header from a corner but as time ticked on, the home side started to become nervous and Clyde gained a hold on possession, without creating much in the way of chances.

As the match ticked on towards its final stages, Dundee managed to claim the goal on the break that sealed the three points. Neat hold up play by Lyle saw him release Kevin McDonald on goal and the highly rated youngster made no mistake as he slid the ball home past Hutton. The rest of the match was a formality for the home team and although Gavin Swankie looked to have added a third, the assistant referee indicated that he had been in an offside position; perhaps crucial with Clyde now level with Morton on points.

A scrappy game meant that there were few impressive performers between the sides. Neil McGregor played well, whilst the poor attacking threat that followed from the loss of Arbuckle will perhaps convince some people of his merits. Ultimately, although defeat was disappointing, I’m sure most Clyde supporters would have accepted three points from a tough couple of trips to Perth and Dundee.