St. Johnstone v Clyde

Recap

Clyde picked up an excellent 3 points in this difficult fixture, thanks to a gritty and determined performance. Alan Kernaghan, for the second week in a row, decided he would lead the team from the park and John Potter came in to replace Bossy.

The game began the way the rest of the 90 minutes followed really. St.Johnstone knocked the ball about the midfield well, but were strangely ineffective up front. Their defence also didn’t look too secure, suggesting that their good defensive record maybe stems from their high share of possession. One of their best chances of the match came within the opening minutes when Paddy Connolly connected with a cross but saw his effort clip the outside of the post. Jack Ross was forced to come off early with an injury, and was replaced by Stevie Convery at right wing-back. Moments later, Colin Nish collected the ball in the box, twisted and turned, and was pulled down. The penalty was awarded by Kenny Clark although it did look a bit soft. As the old saying goes "luck evens out over a season" so we can gratefully accept the award. Leigh Hinds stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the top corner past Alan Main, who made a good attempt at getting there. The Saints then pressed Clyde back for most of the half, with Hinds doing some excellent work holding the ball up and relieving the pressure occasionally. Paul Hartley went down in the box after drifting past a sluggish looking Paul Kane, but the referee booked him for diving. Hartley then had a good chance when he broke into the box, but his shot from a tightish angle was weak and Bryn gathered the ball. Just before half-time, a long ball over the top by Andy Millen was just about collected by Hinds, but he was under too much pressure to get a good shot in and Main easily caught the ball.

The second half began in a similar trend to the first. Clyde were under heavy pressure, but the defence coped very well, with Mensing appearing to improve even more with AK alongside him. At times it looked as though Clyde’s midfield would be over-ran but each time Clyde would produce a burst and move forward for a couple of minutes. Convery and Kernaghan had shots over the bar in two of Clyde’s rare attempts on goal. St.Johnstone should have scored when a low shot was saved by Halliwell, but the rebound was blasted over from inside the box. Leigh Hinds did a lot of work chasing down long balls and harassing defenders and if he can keep this level of effort each week his undoubted talent will ensure he is a big success this season. Convery and Hagen in the wide positions also stuck to their tasks well. In the last minutes as the game opened up, Clyde looked like scoring a second goal and won a few corners, with AK nearly connecting with one at the near post. In injury time, a great long pass by Hagen was collected by Nish, but rather than use the large space he chose to canter in with the ball and a defender came across to foil the chance. Colin really should have at least had a shot, and whether or not it is a confidence problem, it is a fault in his game at the moment.

The final whistle went and Clyde walked off to a standing ovation from the vocal Bully Wee support. It was nail-biting stuff, but also enjoyable to see the team digging in for a result. A bit more belief would help (Clyde should fear no-one in the league), but results like this will help bring it.

REACTION

Alan Kernaghan said: "It was a fighting performance. The crowd didn’t enjoy it that much but we got the three points and that was what was important to us.

I thought we scored too early to make it an open game. St. Johnstone had the majority of the ball and the way they were playing we just had to back off, sit deep and deny them space in behind. Hartley was playing in between midfield and attack and they had good movement, and then when Kiegen Parker came on with his pace if we had pushed up it would have allowed them space in behind. Although they had a few half chances which dropped in the box, we defended quite well.

Bryn Halliwell did okay – he missed a few crosses but thankfully it did not cost us. I am pleased with the performances over the past couple of weeks but these sides, Falkirk, Inverness and St. Johnstone, are good footballing sides at the top of the league. We have to do well against everyone and that is what hurt us in the first quarter of the season.

I can understand the supporters being negative towards the game but as a player I have been involved in games where you have 90% of possession and lose 1-0 which is hugely frustrating, but our supporters did make a lot of noise.