East Stirlingshire v Clyde

Recap

A last-gasp goal by Liam Cusack earned a point for The Bully Wee at Ochilview this afternoon, in another match where Clyde were left to rue missed chances.

With John Sweeney suspended, manager Jim Duffy had to make some adjustments to the starting line-up. Jason Marr returned to the defence, with Pat Scullion moving into midfield.

The majority of the first half chances fell to Clyde. Liam Cusack was first up, but he couldn’t beat Callum Antell after being put through by a clever John Neill pass. Pat Scullion had a more speculative effort saved by Antell, who pulled off a third stop to deny Neill from a close-range header.

Predictably, The Shire then punished Clyde for those misses. A pass was played in behind the defence and Kevin Turner was able to get to the ball before David Crawford, round the ‘keeper and tap the ball into the net. The goal came just before half-time, but there was still time for Clyde to come close before the break, with Paul Hay hitting the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the box.

The second half saw The Bully Wee dominate territory, although probably create less in front of goal as the home side fought to hang onto their lead. Cusack had another chance after latching onto Ryan Kane’s pass, before a flurry of activity in the final seconds of the match.

In the last minute, Antell looked to have secured the three points for his team when he kept out Stephen McDonald’s volley from inside the six yard box. However, a corner in injury time finally produced an equaliser. Brian McQueen nodded the ball towards goal and Cusack was able to add another flick to it and direct it into the top corner of the net.

Even deeper into added time, there was still one more chance for Clyde to get all three points. As the ball was thrown into the box, it eventually fell to Cusack once more but his shot – under heavy pressure in a crowded penalty area – was blocked by Antell to ensure a draw at full-time.