Clyde 4-1 Annan Athletic

Clyde ensured that they will go into the final matchday of the Premier Sports Cup group stage with qualification hopes on Saturday, courtesy of a dominant win in Hamilton this evening.

Darren Young shuffled his pack again for the visit of League Two rivals Annan, with Barry Cuddihy, Bruce Strachan and Scott Williamson all handed starts. Sam Campbell had originally been named in the starting eleven, too, but was withdrawn as a precaution after feeling some discomfort during the warm-up.

The Bully Wee had got off to a wretched start in Saturday’s defeat to Ross County, but remarkably made an even better one of their own here. The opening goal of the evening came in the second minute, when Marley Redfern played a deep cross back into the middle of the box for Kyle Connell to side-foot home from close range.

After just two more minutes, Clyde grabbed their second in style. Connell received possession in a central area around twenty-five yards out and cracked an unstoppable effort into away ‘keeper Charlie Albinson’s top corner.

The number 11 was just getting started for the night, though, and should’ve netted a likely record-breaking hat trick in the sixth minute. He seized upon a loose ball to go one-on-one with Albinson, but prodded his effort wide of the target. Connell made amends on the half hour, though, when he secured the match ball and his team’s third goal with an emphatic penalty after Redfern had been felled inside the Annan box.

A touch of complacency crept in at this point and the Clyde rearguard was guilty of overplaying, with a wayward pass finding Ally Roy inside the home box; the striker set himself and curled a fine finish beyond Jay Hogarth to offer his team an unlikely lifeline.

That is all Roy’s strike amounted to, though, as Redfern soon got in on the scoring act himself. He picked up possession out wide, danced inside the first man and dragged the ball outside the second before slotting a cool left-footed finish into the bottom corner.

Darren Young sensibly opted for minutes management with a series of second half substitutions, the most welcome of which saw James Hilton return to action following a near six-month injury recovery period. Despite this, his team had plenty of opportunities to add to their margin of victory, but twice saw strikes cleared off the line with Williamson also bending a shot narrowly wide in the goalless second period.