Dundee 4-0 Clyde

Clyde’s Premier Sports Cup campaign came to an end this afternoon, as Premiership side Dundee inflicted a heavy defeat upon The Bully Wee on the final matchday of the group stage.

Darren Young was once again forced to make a last-minute change at the back as Logan Dunachie had to withdraw from the starting line-up, with Bruce Strachan replacing him and Kyle Fleming deputising at the heart of the defence alongside new signing Chris Inglis. Meanwhile, another change from Tuesday’s win over Annan Athletic saw Darren Hynes return for a welcome first appearance of the new season. Nathan Cannon (suspension) and Craig Howie (knock) both dropped out of the matchday squad.

With victory for either side potentially seeing them top the group, it was the top-flight side who dominated the opening period of the game, penning Clyde in and coming close to making the breakthrough on a couple of occasions. Former Clyde trialist Joe Bevan had the pick of the early chances when he slashed a shot wide from the middle of the box, before Drey Wright unleashed a dipping volley from range which mercifully clipped the top of Jay Hogarth’s crossbar on its way over.

Strong pressing from the Bully Wee’s front six afforded them a bit of momentum as the half progressed, however, as the visitors started to ask a few questions of the home defence. On the half hour, though, a kind ricochet gifted Simon Murray a chance one-on-one with Hogarth, but his finish lacked conviction and was easily saved. As the interval approached, Barry Cuddihy stole possession high up and squared for Kyle Connell, but the striker hesitated slightly and would see his strike blocked by a recovering Dundee defender.

With one objective ticked off, Young’s men would’ve been looking for more of the same after the break, but half time changes from the hosts injected a bit more urgency into their forward play and one of the substitutes quickly broke the deadlock. After The Dees worked the ball from right to left, Alan Forrest cut inside and bent a fine curling strike inside the far post beyond Hogarth.

On the hour, Clyde had a golden chance to set up a grandstand final third of the match when James Hilton whipped a delightful corner delivery into the perfect area. Fleming evaded his marker to meet it, but was left with his head in his hands after glancing the ball wide of Kieran O’Hara’s upright.

That miss would prove costly, as Dundee soon made sure of the result with two goals in the space of five minutes. First, Liam Rooney was unfortunate to concede a penalty when a cross struck his outstretched arm as he slid to block it, with Simon Murray making no mistake from twelve yards. With Clyde now tiring after a titanic shift out of possession, the third goal saw a deep, inch-perfect cross from the right flank tapped home by Joe Westley.

At this point, The Dees smelled blood and continued to push for more goals. The visitors, in turn, continued to put up stubborn resistance, but were to be undone for a fourth time when the first contact from a long throw fell to Westley, who was perfectly positioned to stab home his second of the afternoon from close range.

The final whistle confirmed qualification via a thoroughly deserved win but somewhat unreflective scoreline for the hosts, alongside a third-placed finish in the group for Clyde. All attentions now turn to next Saturday, when The Bully Wee will kick off their League Two campaign with a home game against Stranraer.