Dumbarton 1-0 Clyde

Clyde suffered defeat on the road this afternoon, with a single second-half goal the difference between the teams in Dumbarton.

Darren Young was forced to make two changes to the side which opened the campaign with an impressive home win against Stranraer last week; Kyle Connell was unavailable, and Scott Williamson suffered a muscular strain in training during the week. James Hilton and Timam Scott made their first league starts of the season as a result, with Nathan Cannon deployed as the striker.

If The Bully Wee were already depleted in attack, then it was to get worse midway through the half. Cannon went down after defending one of many softly-awarded free kicks in his own box, and had to be withdrawn in some discomfort.

An attritional first half hour passed without further incident, but the clash soon sparked into life. The hosts’ Scott Tomlinson streaked clear on the right and had only Jay Hogarth to beat but, from an angle, bent his strike wide of the far post. The Bully Wee then had an even better chance to break the deadlock, as a neat exchange of passes released James Hilton inside The Sons’ box; the former Dumbarton man went for power, though, and sent a low effort skidding narrowly wide.

Clyde emerged from the half time break in better shape and looked the most likely to grab the opening goal, but a piece of slack play at the back saw it instead go the way of the hosts. Barry Cuddihy was caught in possession in his own third and the ball eventually fell for Scott Honeyman, who had the simple task of tapping home at the back post.

A double change from Darren Young – featuring a debut for young loanee Jack Anderson and a return for club captain Andy Murdoch – reinvigorated his side, and they really ought to have found an equaliser in the time that remained. Lewis Lovering had the best of them, sending a free header over the bar after a pinpoint Scott cross, whilst Marley Redfern should’ve done better than miss the target with two efforts across goal.

The full time whistle was accompanied by some poetic rainfall, as another disappointing afternoon at an unhappy hunting ground came to a close. The Bully Wee will look to bounce back over the next week, with a KDM Evolution Trophy tie against St Mirren B on Tuesday preceding our next league game, away to Annan Athletic on Saturday.