Partick Thistle v Clyde

Recap

After all the hype it seemed inevitable Clyde wouldn’t do the business and put Thistle to the sword. Instead a certain Paddy Keogh was doing that on behalf on Hamilton at Kirkcaldy.

Strangely, his striking partner at Clyde last season, McConalogue, was to end up being the difference between the sides as the Jags earned a comfortable win in the end. While the Jags may have had the satisfaction of raising two fingers to the Bully Wee, the Clyde following were there when the final nail went into Thistle’s coffin. A sort of honours even.

Once again Clyde threw together a team of the barely fit and barely experienced to try and repeat the exploits of last week against Falkirk.

The Jags immediately went on the attack with Armand One to the fore but the first tackle saw him crumple in a heap with shoulder problems that were to hamper him until he was replaced.

After some early pressure from Thistle, Clyde eventually broke clear and Jones saw his shot from the edge of the box crash off the top of the bar. Given the last ditch scenario for Thistle the game was played at a strangely sedate pace.

Thistle were not in the mood for taking prisoners though as series of hefty challenges clearly indicated. Clyde had another brush with the woodwork as Malone saw his strike hit the post. Worse was to follow for Clyde as Jones had to leave the field injured leaving Clyde with no target up front.

Thistle took the lead just before half time. McConalogue picked the ball up just outside the box and fired a reasonable shot at goal. We can only assume Halliwell was trying for his usual flashy grab-and-bounce but the keeper got it totally wrong and the ball went through his hands.

The second half saw Clyde try to push on but with a front line of Gilhaney, Harty and Bradley the stream of punts up the park was never going to work. In fact Halliwell made up for his blunder with a series of great saves to keep Thistle from stretching their lead.

The game became a bit heated and the bookings mounted but in truth Kenny Arthur had a very quiet second half. Clyde’s only real chance came near the end but Bradley couldn’t convert with only Arthur to beat.

This was Clyde’s big chance to stick one on their rivals but it was a complete anticlimax. Thistle showed some dig that must be leaving their fans wondering why it wasn’t apparent a couple of months ago.

Clyde’s youngsters (and some oldies too) just never got going. The challenge now is to try and regain second place from St Mirren.

Clyde Star Ratings (*****)
Halliwell **** A definite blunder but made up for it.
Espinosa **** Very cool and composed.
Gilhaney ** Seemed to lack the conviction to take them on.
Bryson ** Not the dynamic force we have come to expect.
Potter **** Leading by example as usual.
Sheridan *** Steady but far from his best.
Burns *** Using his experience well as the back.
Gibson ** Needs more games to find his form.
Jones *** Started well until injury caught up with him.
Malone **** Slow start but one of the main men as the game progressed.
Harty ** Out of sorts.

Bradley ** Didn’t make the most of his opportunity.
Gardiner ** Rarely looked a threat.