Falkirk v Clyde

Recap

A hard earned point was taken at Falkirk thanks to a superb individual effort from Jamie Mitchell. He returned to the side following midweek suspension but otherwise the team was along the usual lines.

Clyde began confidently and were stroking the ball about well in midfield. It wasn’t long before Keogh had the first chance and his header was pushed away by Hogarth in the Falkirk goal. Clyde held the midfield and continued to press but as we’ve seen a lot lately, the final ball is the problem. So, Mitchell decided to take matters in hand himself. He picked the ball up just inside the Falkirk half and sped towards goal. Skipping past the last two defenders at the edge of the box he steadied himself before sliding the ball past Hogarth into the net. He’s threatened to do this on numerous occasions in the past and this time it came off for a spectacular goal. Finally Falkirk began to get their teeth into the game and Clyde were lucky to reach the interval with their lead intact. Firstly Smith missed a punt down the middle leaving veteran striker Paul Wright with a clear run on goal. Budd saved well and Cranmer got back to clear the follow up off the line. Then just before the break Budd completely misjudged the bounce of the ball and it flew over his head towards goal. McAllister was the first to reach it and could have slid the ball in from a tight angle. However he decided to take a touch and steady himself by which time Smith, Budd and Cranmer combined to scramble the ball away. For all Clyde’s possession they were lucky to keep their lead.

There were no changes at half time and Clyde started the half again dominating the midfield but without really troubling Hogarth. Then with their first real attack of the second half Falkirk scored the equaliser. A sweeping move across the park saw a cross driven across goal for substitute Waddell to slide in and score. Falkirk had their tails up and it looked like being a long second half for Clyde. It was a hot sunny day and the Clyde midfield and forwards were starting to wilt maybe through the exertions of Tuesday night. Clyde didn’t appear to have a second goal in them. Crawford was replaced by Kane to try and pep up the attack. Okikiolu came on for McClay and spiced things up with his physical style. He was soon booked and will have to calm down if he hopes to prosper. Kane had a good shout for a penalty turned down as his shot was parried away by a player trying to protect his face. Towards the end Clyde were starting to play again with Dunn in particular seeing a lot of ball on the left. Late substitute Convery almost snatched it at the end as he got on to a long punt down the middle and lobbed the keeper. Sadly the ball drifted wide and that was the end of the action.

A point away to Falkirk isn’t bad. However the lack of return on the amount of possession Clyde had is worrying. The inability to switch the ball left to Dunn when he’s got half the pitch to himself is also glaringly obvious. Clyde wilted today as the pressing done by McClay, Millen and Mitchell eventually took its toll on them. Forgetting a couple of blips, Budd and the defence look a sound unit. When Clyde start getting the final ball right someone is going to suffer.