Clyde 3-1 Stranraer
Clyde got their William Hill League Two campaign off to a perfect start this afternoon, with three goals late in the first half doing the business for Darren Young’s men.
The Bully Wee boss had the luxury of naming a full squad for this one, with recent co-operation loan signings Keir Gilligan and Jack Anderson named on the bench. The match came too soon for Jamie Bradley, Darren Hynes and Andy Murdoch, however, as they continue to work their way towards full fitness.
The opening exchanges saw little goalmouth action for either side, and midway through the half it was hard to see where a goal was coming from, with Clyde yet to find their rhythm and Stranraer not asking many questions of their own. Before long, though, a gift had the visitors ahead; Logan Dunachie left his back pass short under pressure, with Ronan Hughes latching onto the loose ball before tucking it beyond Jay Hogarth.
Conceding that goal seemed to light a fire underneath the Clyde players, and they soon found a fortuitous equaliser. Scott Williamson volleyed a bouncing ball on target and drew a smart stop from visiting ‘keeper Max Currie, but the ball cannoned off a Blues defender and ended up in the back of the net via Currie’s fingertips.
The Bully Wee were now in control of the contest and, with half time approaching, they took the lead. Marley Redfern skipped past his man on the left and dinked a cross into the area which was begging to be met; man of-the-match in waiting Lewis Lovering duly obliged, escaping his marker to plant a glorious diving header into the bottom corner.
The Clyde fans in attendance would’ve been more than happy to go into the interval with that one-goal lead, but their team snatched a scarcely believable third goal with another clinical finish in time added on. There was a touch of fortune in the build-up as Kyle Connell cutely bumped a Stranraer player out of the road; from there, Kyle Fleming’s raking ball out wide was plucked out of the air by Williamson, who rolled the ball across the six yard box. It looked to be behind Nathan Cannon, but the winger produced an exquisite flicked finish which eventually trundled inside the far post to double his side’s advantage.
Young’s men weren’t content to sit on that lead and went in search of more goals in the second half, with Cannon, Dunachie and Williamson all passing up close-range chances to tie up the points. The latter produced a smart stop from Currie with an improvised hooked effort, as a tireless shift ended with the goal his performance merited. The visitors had a fantastic opportunity to halve the deficit after catching their hosts on the break, but Liam Rooney positioned himself perfectly to snuff out the final
Stranraer plugged away and had a couple of chances to get themselves back into the match late on, but Hogarth was on hand to make a pair of smart stops – one from a powerful effort at his near post, the other an instinctive reflex save – as Clyde registered a welcome opening day victory.