Love Lauds Close-Knit Dressing Room

Ally Love spoke to the press following Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic in the William Hill Scottish Cup.

The 28-year-old scored the only goal of the match at New Dundas Park, to take Clyde into the Fifth Round and set up an exciting tie against cup holders Celtic at Broadwood.

“It’s a great result,” he said. “We knew how difficult it was going to be going from the stats before the game. It’s a difficult venue with a heavy park – it was like running on quicksand at times – but we dug deep. 

“The gaffer told us half-time that when there was a chance to show that bit of quality that we had to do it. In those types of games you don’t get to o many chances throughout the game, thankfully I got one after I came on and I managed to take it.”

The winning goal came ten minutes from time, as Love managed to scramble into space before firing the ball into the net, off the inside of the post:-

“I stumbled over the ball at first because the park was that heavy, the ball sunk into the ground and I fell over it. I managed to get it out from under my feet in the end and just smashed it. There was massive relief from it as I had just missed a header where I should have done better. 

“The result is so important for the club to get to the next round, especially after coming to a difficult venue. A home tie against anybody and we will fancy our chances – we have quality in that dressing room.”

Clyde had a great chance to double the lead when Love was put through on goal and saw his effort saved, choosing against the option of squaring the ball to David Goodwillie who was in the box:-

“David gave me some stick after the game, I had to apologise to him. I did see him but the ball bobbled up and I took one touch too many and just had to have a shot. David did admit that he would have shot too from that position, but said he would have scored!”

Love commented on the news that broke on Saturday that Goodwillie had extended his contract with the club by a further three years:-

“It was brilliant to see him sign a new contract. They boys are buzzing and even Goodie will tell you himself he’s enjoying his football. It’s a really close-knit dressing room and if I’m honest it wasn’t really a big shock for us to see him sign again. 

“There’s probably been a lot of interest in him and rightly so, he’s a great striker, but Clyde’s a great club where you get looked after, the fans are brilliant and the dressing room is tremendous.”

Finally, Ally praised the large Clyde support that travelled through to Bonnyrigg:-

“The fans were fantastic, their backing was outstanding. For the whole second half they were in full song and the boys know that they are right behind us. They were tremendous.”