Ross County v Clyde

Recap

It was a case of a point held rather than two points dropped as Clyde held on for a scoreless draw in the highlands against Ross County yesterday. In spite of a decent early start it was Ross County who looked the more likely of the two sides to get a win but in the end the game petered out for a dull goalless draw.

Clyde started well and as early as the 2nd minute, home keeper Smith was called on to make a good stop from Clyde’s Andy Smith shot with skipper Jack Ross putting the rebound well wide. Ross then broke forward down the right but his cross into the box was easily taken by the keeper. It was almost 10 minutes into the game before County broke out of their own half but a shot by Hamilton was easily held by Halliwell. The last time the two sides met in Dingwall an Ian Harty goal from a long searching ball was enough to secure the points, but this time similar tactics were bringing little success against some resolute defence well marshalled by Jim Lauchlan. But on the quarter hour a long ball from McCluskey was nodded on by Andy Smith but Harty hammered his shot high and wide of the County goal. At the other end McCluskey showed his defensive prowess as he coolly broke up a dangerous looking county break. But as the home side gradually took control of the game, former St. Mirren striker Stephen McGarry beat the offside trap but his shot went just wide of goal. Then Jim Hamilton saw his header from a free kick sail wide of goal and minutes later a McGarry header also went well wide of the target. It was almost half an hour gone before Clyde troubled Graham Smith in the Ross County goal when a loose clearance was blocked by Ross into the path of Gilhaney, but the youngsters tame shot was easily held by the keeper. The rest of the half was bogged down in midfield as neither side managed to get control of a scrappy game with Clyde’s long ball tactic not working as Smith struggled to get on the end of them. And with a lack of width to stretch the home side it was inevitable there would be changes made at half time.

When the change did come it was a surprise that central defender McCluskey was the man to make way for Kevin Fotheringham, as the former St. Johnstone defender had been the best player on the park. However it was revealed after the game that he was suffering from suspected food poisoning along with 5 others in the squad. The second half started with a couple of dodgy refereeing decisions when first Harty appealed for a corner, then it appeared like he was fouled but both decisions went the way of the home team. Then on 5 minutes an excellent cross field ball from Mensing saw Colin Marshall break into the box, but he delayed the cross ball too long and when he did attempt to pass across goal it was easily charged down and cleared. And 2 minutes later when Jimmy Gibson miscued a ball forward for Harty it certainly did begin to feel that it may not be Clyde’s day. The half was barely 10 minutes old when Keogh was brought on to replace Gilhaney and County brought on David Winters. The second half was picking up exactly where the first had left off with neither side offering anything clear cut in front of goal, but on the hour mark Andy Smith saw his cross from the right dummied by Harty then cleared for a corner. From the corner Keogh eventually saw his shot blocked on the line. And 5 minutes later a slip by Austin McCann saw Rankine through on goal but his cut back was blasted wide by Jim Hamilton. Hagen replaced Smith in what was the last throw of the dice for Clyde with 20 minutes to go and his cross saw Mensing just fail to get contact on a diving header. With only 12 minutes to go Harty sent over an inch perfect cross from the right but under pressure from Smith, Keogh saw his header drift agonisingly wide of goal. With only 5 minutes to go McGarry broke into the box and looked likely to trouble Halliwell but under no tackle from Mensing he mysteriously fell over in the box and Steve Conroy waved away his futile calls for a penalty.

As the game ended, the news from Kirkaldy was that Inverness had won reducing the gap at the top to only 2 points but Clyde know that wins from the next 2 games will still see the title come to Broadwood, so little has changed from the situation prior to the game.

STAR RATINGS *****

Halliwell **** Several decent stops and a clean sheet.
Mensing *** Tried hard on the right.
McCann ** A disappointing display overall.
McCluskey **** Looked very solid before his early exit.
McLaughlin *** A bit rusty with some clumsy passing.
Ross *** Ebbed and flowed at times but had a good second half.
Gilhaney ** Final ball was lacking and couldn’t use his pace to any effect.
Marshall ** Quiet for long spells.
Smith ** Struggled in the air and looked out of sorts.
Gibson *** Kept at it but not in 5th gear at any stage.
Harty ** Head seemed to go down very easily for some reason.
 
Fotheringham *** A solid enough 45 minutes.
Keogh ** Nearly scored after coming on.
Hagen * A couple of poor crosses was his only contribution.