Partick Thistle v Clyde

Recap

Clyde supporters made the short trip to Firhill on the back of two excellent victories against Dundee and Gretna and the air of anticipation pre-match was rewarded with a thumping win over Partick Thistle.

Clyde chose to field the same starting 11 for the fourth game in a row and kept 4 attacking players on the bench. Thistle recalled ex-Dundee United defender Alan Archibald to the line up which lost in the Scottish Cup at Dunfermline, with top scorer Mark Roberts missing out.

In the wins over Dundee and Gretna, there was a clear factor, the scoring of an early goal. In this game, Clyde once again struck early. After a scrappy first few minutes a late tackle by Jimmy Gibson on Craig Bryson was punished with a freekick. Robert Harris clipped the ball forward and Gary Arbuckle reacted ahead of the Thistle defence to instinctively lob the dropping ball over Kenny Arthur. A quality finish, albeit aided by some poor marking.

Sensing the kill, Clyde pressed forward and after a couple of neat passing moves that petered out, got the crucial second goal. A wild tackle by Gibson saw a freekick awarded on the edge of the box and the Thistle man picked up a booking, as well as an injury which would force the end of his game. Sympathy was in short supply from the Clyde side however and Steven Masterton produced a typically powerful drive that squirmed through the wall past the despairing hand of Arthur. Masterton, like Arbuckle, has now scored in 3 consecutive games.

Thistle then introduced Billy Gibson for his namesake Jimmy but the change had little effect as Clyde continued to dominate possession. The best chance fell to Craig McKeown but his header arced past the post. Soon, however, Clyde added the third with the best move of the match. Craig Bryson moved onto a loose ball and exchanged neat passes with Brian Gilmour before running into the box. With Thistle’s defence slow to cover, the Clyde youngster curled a right footed effort into the top corner, for his third in three games and an excellent reward for a superb first half display.

Given the recent match at Dundee, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see Clyde score 4 goals in one half and once again, they did so. Masterton played a superb pass with the outside of his right boot and McGowan picked up on the right wing. From a narrow angle, about 30 yards out on the touchline, he chose to fizz a shot in towards the near post and the inventive attempt caught out Arthur, his dive failing to stop the ball.

There was still time for another superb move to release the impressive Dougie Imrie into the box but his low effort was well stopped by Arthur. As Clyde left the field at the break, the home side had shown nothing to suggest they’d cause any problems in the rest of the game.

The second half saw Thistle introduce ex-Clyde player Paddy Keogh, with another ex-Broadwood man, Stephen McConalogue, leaving the field. The change made a difference for about 10 minutes, with Keogh’s height and power causing a different sort of problem to Clyde’s backline but with the exception of a weak shot by Allan Russell that trundled miles past the post there was nothing to trouble the Clyde goalkeeper.

Gradually Clyde reasserted their dominance and although there were to be no further goals, there were plenty of attempts on goal. The best chance fell to Gilmour after a sweeping move saw Imrie release the young striker on goal. Arthur did well to advance from his line and block. With the Thistle backline showing no inclination to mark anyone, Imrie had the entire leftwing to himself and his low cross was then knocked past his own post by Archibald. A Craig Bryson volley from 30 yards then brought out another good save from Arthur, before the youngster departed the pitch to huge applause after picking up a slight injury, Kevin Bradley replacing him.

The main body of chances and attacking possession had now departed but there was still to be three more efforts on goal. Ryan McCann improved his powerful display further by thumping a low effort that was cleared for a corner and Gary Arbuckle fired over when well placed, before him and Gilmour made way for Andy Ferguson and Alex Williams. The latter produced the final attempt of the match, flicking Imrie’s cross just past the post, with Ferguson inches away from connecting.

Overall, it was another superb display from Clyde. The introduction of Gilmour’s intelligence and McCann’s energy has altered the whole side, with Bryson in particular benefiting. The back four continues to look solid and Arbuckle keeps netting goals.