Spartans v Clyde

Recap

Clyde’s William Hill Scottish Cup campaign came to a premature end this afternoon, as Lowland League Spartans deservedly secured a two-goal victory at Ainslie Park.

Barry Ferguson fielded the same starting line-up which defeated Elgin City last week, with Craig Halkett returning to the bench following injury.

The home side started the match well and, after a couple of half chances at either end, took the lead after 14 minutes. The lively Jack Beasley found space on the right wing and went down in the box under a tackle by Ryan Frances, prompting the referee to point to the spot. Kevin Motion made no mistake with the penalty.

Alan Martin was then forced into a superb save at his near post to prevent Gary Cennerazzo getting on the scoresheet, before Scott Durie came close to an equaliser when his shot hit the outside of the net.

As Clyde struggled to find any consistency in their play, a mistake by Frances led to Beasley firing a shot just wide of the post as half-time approached.

Frances and Sinclair were replaced by Halkett and Scott Ferguson at the break and the latter had two chances to get The Bully Wee level; first missing the target from close range and then forcing Kevin Swain into an excellent fingertip save.

However, as the second half progressed Clyde’s ability to create opportunities on goal decreased and a rare Spartans attack brought a decisive second goal. It came via another penalty kick by Motion, following a clumsy tackle by Brian McQueen.

That left the final outcome in little doubt, but a late incident led to a slight sour note for the hosts as Kevin Sivewright was shown a red card for a second bookable offence.