Annan Athletic 1-2 Clyde

The Bully Wee registered a welcome victory on the road today, as Kyle Connell’s late strike secured the three points from a tight affair at Galabank.

Darren Young was able to call upon the services of Scott Williamson again, after the striker recovered from a muscular strain to lead the line. Club captain Andy Murdoch started, though his midfield partner Barry Cuddihy had to be replaced by Kyle Fleming following the warm-up.

The opening half hour of the match saw the sides testing one another out, with both ‘keepers making elementary saves from efforts on target. Clyde had the upper hand in general play, however, and soon made that tell.

The deadlock was broken after The Bully Wee strung together a series of one-touch passes starting from defence; James Hilton was the man who fed the killer ball through to Williamson, who bore down on Charlie Albinson before coolly slotting the ball into the net.

The lead wouldn’t last for long, however, as Craig Howie was penalised for a foul on the edge of his box. Annan player/manager Willie Gibson feigned to shoot, but it was Aidan Smith who bent the free kick around the wall and inside Jay Hogarth’s far post to level the scoring.

After the break, chances were limited for both sides, though the best of them went the way of the hosts when a goalbound attempt was well cleared by a Clyde man on the line. For the visitors, substitute Kyle Connell curled a free kick over the bar but clear cut opportunities were very much at a premium in the second half.

Just as a draw seemed inevitable, however, Connell popped up with a big moment to secure all three points for his side. Having initially played the ball wide to Jack Anderson, he was the first man to react to the young loanee’s deflected ball into the area and side-footed into the net to spark joyous scenes amongst the travelling contingent.