Kilmarnock 4-2 Clyde
The Bully Wee left Rugby Park without any points this evening despite a spirited performance in an action-packed Betfred Cup tie, in which they came from behind to lead at the interval. The hosts rallied in the second half as Clyde finished the match with 10 men, after Jordan Stewart received a very disputable red card.
Jim Chapman made one change to his starting XI, with recently appointed club captain Kevin Nicoll (pictured) coming into the side at the expense of David Gormley, who dropped to the bench.
The Premiership side got off to a fast start when Rory McKenzie was able to create space for himself in the box and fire a low shot past Blair Currie and into the net.
However, Clyde roared back and scored two goals in just over a minute to take a shock lead. The first came from Darren Ramsay, who finished well after David Goodwillie managed to get the ball to him in the penalty area. Then, an excellent free kick by Darren Miller was met at the back post by Nicoll and he made no mistake in heading the ball home.
Unsurprisingly, the home side then attempted to put a lot of pressure on the Clyde goal, but a Kris Boyd free-kick was the closest they came to scoring before half-time, as The Bully Wee put in a determined display.
Killie started the second half strongly and Adam Frizzell soon forced Currie into a good low stop.
A goal was coming though and, on 52 minutes, Dom Thomas was given too much room at the edge of the box and he found the bottom corner to equalise.
A Clyde counter attack then saw Stewart set up Ramsay for a fine effort on goal, but Jamie McDonald made a good save.
After 59 minutes, Thomas scored again to make it 3-2, with a similar goal from just outside the box that left Currie rooted to the spot.
The Bully Wee then had another good spell though and Goodwillie looked to have been brought down in the box but referee Craig Charleston decided otherwise and booked the forward for simulation.
Substitute Max Wright then had a sight of goal and forced McDonald into a block, but as the ball moved back up to the other end, it was McKenzie’s turn to get a second for Kilmarnock and open up a two-goal gap.
There was then a hugely controversial moment as Jordan Stewart completely missed a one-footed sliding tackle in the middle of the park, which led to a very strange decision by Mr Charleston to show a straight red card to the Clyde defender.
That effectively ended Clyde’s chances of mounting an unlikely comeback, but the last 20 minutes were nonetheless played out with spirit and the scoreline remained 4-2 until the final whistle.
If you were at today’s match and are a CIC owner with a website account, you can vote for your top three performers in the Man of the Match vote.
In this evening’s other match in Group E, Ayr United climbed to the top of the table after a 3-1 victory at Dumbarton.
| GROUP E | P | W | D | L | BP | GD | PTS |
| Ayr United | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Kilmarnock | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| CLYDE | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 3 |
| Annan Athletic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Dumbarton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 0 |