Stenhousemuir v Clyde

Recap

Clyde crashed to another disappointing defeat as a late goal from Stenhousemuir prevented the Bully Wee from moving off of the foot of the Second Division table.

There was the luxury of an unchanged starting line-up as Ally Park continued at centre half and Kevin Higgins made his league debut in midfield. This level of continuity showed itself as Clyde moved the ball around well throughout the game against a side who tried to pass the ball themselves. Indeed, Stenhousemuir started well and had the first effort on goal which Pat Scullion fired past of the post. Next to threaten was Alan Lithgow, as the Clyde defender fired in a header from Willie McLachlan’s free kick that Chris McCluskey did well to block.

Calum Reidford then did well to save Iain Thomson’s shot before several headed chances for both sides. For the Warriors, Scott Dalziel had a couple of efforts go off target, emulated by Jordan White for the Bully Wee. Willie Sawyers had set up White’s chance with a great run and from his own chance he brought a good save out of McCluskey with a close range header.

Kevin Higgins was then replaced by Mark Casey following a clash with Scullion and this was followed up by possibly the best effort on goal of the half. Some neat interplay between Steven Howarth and Connor Stevenson saw the latter create some space before firing in a swerving shot that McCluskey did exceptionally well to tip over the crossbar.

Ex-Clyde striker Kevin Bradley then nipped past Lithgow before firing in a shot that struck the bottom of the post and the fog started to ominously move in. Over half-time and the first 20 minutes of the second half, it looked like an abandonment was inevitable. This period at the start of the second half saw Clyde take charge of the game but they only really had a couple of Steven Howarth efforts that tested McCluskey. The big blow came at the other end, where some hesitation from Reidford saw Craig Molloy bump into Ally Park as he shielded the ball towards the goal-line. In the fall that he suffered, Park ended up dislocating his shoulder and had to be withdrawn after a terrific performance. Lee Graham was his replacement.

Unfortunately, this change indirectly led to the winning goal for the home team. McLachlan lost the ball in the middle of the pitch but Graham found himself five yards from the touchline with an easy clearance. Sadly, he mis-hit his volley straight to Bradley and from his pass, Thomson set up Molloy with an easy chance that the midfielder slotted past Reidford.

Clyde tried to respond but the exertions against Livingston had obviously had an effect on their reserves of energy. Indeed, only a terrific save from Reidford to keep out a Love volley kept the score level.

Despite losing the game, Clyde have improved greatly since the last meeting of the sides. There is a purpose to their play and the ball is being passed nicely at times. Unfortunately, there continues to be a lack of depth available on the substitutes bench and it’s important that this is remedied in January.