Montrose v Clyde

Recap

Clyde comfortably moved into the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup with a professional display against 3rd division Montrose.

The Clyde line-up saw Robert Harris drop out to be replaced by Gary Arbuckle. This saw Eddie Malone drop back into the defence and also saw Dougie Imrie take up a place at left wingback.

An encouraging first 10 minutes, which saw some nice football from Clyde and a powerful free-kick from Masterton, soon descended into a scrappy game as Montrose forced Clyde to persistently play the long-ball. Montrose earned a couple of corners but failed to produce anything serious to trouble Peter Cherrie.

Clyde then suffered an unfortunate set back, when Chris Higgins was taken off to receive stitches to an eye injury. He returned after a 10-minute spell in which Clyde concentrated on keeping the ball. As Montrose started to fancy that they had weathered the early storm, Clyde began to create chances. A slack pass back saw Arbuckle run through but he shot wide from a tight angle. It was a good chance, however the Montrose goalkeeper left the Clyde striker with no room to find a finish. Arbuckle was starting to make his presence felt and Andy Ferguson met his lovely cross with a looping header, which dipped past the post.

A goal seemed inevitable and 5 minutes from the break, Clyde struck. A superb dinked pass by Paul McHale saw Dougie Imrie run in behind the Montrose right back and Donachie ended up tripping him from behind. A clear penalty and McHale made no mistake from the spot.

The second half saw Ryan McCann given the chance to make a proper impression on the Clyde support as he replaced the injured Higgins. This saw McGowan move back into defence, with McCann playing at right wing-back. The new man nearly made an instant impression when he moved onto Arbuckle’s flick-on before firing high and wide of the target.

The introduction of Napier injected Montrose with some pace and skill and his looping cross was superbly cleared by Eddie Malone. Any hopes that Montrose had of a comeback were soon finished as Clyde added their second goal. A whipped Malone corner was met by Andy Ferguson, who powerfully headed home his first goal for Clyde.

This goal seemed to kill off any Montrose resistance and Clyde’s superior fitness began to tell. A superb move between McHale and Bryson nearly set-up Arbuckle but he was denied by a last gasp tackle. Another lovely move then ended with McHale firing a volley that Andrew Reid did well to stop at his near post. Ferguson then showed more of his finishing prowess by looping a header into the net, although he was given offside.

With the tie won, Clyde decided to give 15 minutes to Roddy Hunter and Kevin Bradley, who replaced Arbuckle and Ferguson. Within 5 minutes Hunter had ran clean through on goal but he shot straight at Reid when he should have slotted the ball past the advancing ‘keeper. More great passing movements gave further chances to Imrie and McCann, both of which were stopped by the over-worked Reid.

There was to be a third goal and it was worth the wait. Neat play by Bradley saw him set-up McCann, who looped a long ball to the back post, where Imrie met it with a superb half-volley which gave Reid no chance.

Overall, a decent performance and Clyde perhaps have started to take some of the chances they are creating. Montrose didn’t really threaten at any point but there are too many bad memories of cup shocks for Clyde fans to complain about these games. McHale was superb in his midfield role and Malone orchestrated things from defence. Imrie was always a threat on the left and the front two did well whenever they received service. A defeat would have been a damaging blow, hopefully the victory will give Clyde confidence as they head into the international break.