Hamilton Academical v Clyde

Recap

Clyde’s battle against relegation will go to the last day of the season following a defeat to Hamilton that also sealed the First Division title for the Accies.

With Jorg Albertz missing out and both Gary Arbuckle and David MacKay dropping to the bench, Gary McSwegan, Kevin Bradley and Christian Smith all came into the starting line-up. Of the home side’s ex-Clyde contingent, only Mark McLaughlin and Simon Mensing started the match, with Bryn Halliwell and Mark Gilhaney on the substitute’s bench.

The early stages of the match saw Hamilton, bolstered by a huge home crowd expecting a title party, take control of the game but with nerves playing a huge part, they struggled to create any clear chances. Indeed, the first serious effort of the game came for Clyde who looked lively on the break. After McSwegan twice failed to get on the end of promising through balls, Pat Clarke tested Tomas Cerny with a dipping 25 yard volley. However, the crucial moment of the match was to arrive after 21 minutes and it was to see another moment of madness from Clyde’s skipper, Neil McGregor. A long ball into the box was missed by David Hutton and the loose ball was looped towards the net by Simon Mensing, only for McGregor to inexplicably lunge at the ball with his hand. The resulting red card was expected and Tony Stevenson made no mistake with the penalty.

Predictably, Hamilton was then able to dominate the match and Clyde chose to move Smith back to the centre half position to cover for McGregor’s dismissal. Although chances were still rare, they did seal the match before the break as a burst forward from left back Brian Easton cut Clyde open and he slipped Richard Offiong through on goal. The striker had already netted three times against Clyde this season and he made no mistake with a low left foot drive.

From the reaction of the Hamilton supporters, players and staff it was clear that they believed that the title was theirs and Clyde, with an awareness of how important goal difference may be next week, did nothing to dispel the impression that Accies would be heading to the SPL. The second half saw a couple of weak shots by Clarke and Ruari McLennan and several half-chances for the home side but in truth, both teams were happy with the scoreline.

The final game of the season now becomes crucial for Clyde’s future, following Morton’s 3-0 win over Dunfermline. Livingston confirmed their First Division status for another season as a Liam Fox goal gave them a 1-0 win against Partick Thistle, the team that Morton will travel to face next week. The Ton now have a one goal advantage over Clyde and therefore, if both sides win, Clyde will need to do so by scoring more goals than the Greenock side.