Stirling Albion v Clyde

Recap

Clyde got back to winning ways this evening, as a dominant second half performance rubber-stamped a comfortable three points at a freezing Forthbank.

Darren Young opted to make a single change to the team which drew with Elgin last Tuesday, with the fit-again Scott Williamson shaking off a recent dead leg to replace Kyle Connell up front.

The eventual outcome wasn’t one many in attendance would’ve predicted after a closely-contested opening half hour, in which Stirling had the better of the general play without ever troubling Jay Hogarth.

Home ‘keeper Derek Gaston had been a virtual spectator, too, until the decisive moment of the game arrived ten minutes before the interval. Logan Dunachie shook off his man at his own corner flag and found James Hilton in space in a central area, with the winger spraying the ball forward to the scampering Williamson. He drove forward and turned his marker inside and out before advancing into the area and coolly bending the ball into the back of the net.

That goal saw Clyde kick into gear and, on the cusp half time, they grabbed a second. Marley Redfern intelligently shrugged off his man to fashion a bit of space in the left channel and he picked out Robbie Leitch in the area, who showed great composure to control and stroke the ball into the bottom corner.

The start of the second period saw the game become a bit end-to-end with The Binos throwing men forward, but The Bully Wee soon took control of proceedings and made sure of the result on the hour. Dunachie rose to meet a corner kick and couldn’t quite get his head to the ball, but Leitch did well to keep the ball alive on the far side and stood up a pinpoint cross to the defender, who towered above the home defence to glance a header beyond Gaston.

Hogarth was finally called into action shortly thereafter when Mackenzie Carse slipped the ball under him, but Tommy Robson was well positioned to clear off the line. The Clyde ‘keeper then made a big stop to extend his clean sheet record, springing to get a big hand to Russell McLean’s header.

That was as good as it got for Stirling in the final half hour and, in truth, the scoreline could’ve been far more emphatic. Williamson, Dunachie and substitute Aiden McGinlay all had presentable opportunities to extend the lead, but it was to remain at three as the hardy band of Clyde fans who braved the cold showed their appreciation for their team’s efforts at full time.