Clyde 3-2 The Spartans

The Bully Wee somehow maintained their flawless home record in William Hill League Two this afternoon, courtesy of a late turnaround which was as thrilling as it was unexpected.

Darren Young, embattled in the face of a litany of injuries in recent weeks, once again didn’t have his troubles to seek – the Clyde boss revealed pre-match that in the aftermath of a gruelling pair of matches last week, he was left with a single-digit number of fit players at training on Monday night. Young would only have to make two injury-enforced changes to his side, however, which saw emergency loan signing Connor Storey replace Jude Smith (thigh), whilst Jamie Bradley came in for Logan Dunachie (ankle).

Straight from kick-off there was a sign of things to come, as an immediately disjointed home defence allowed Spartans talisman Marc McNulty to get a shot off from inside their area after just twenty seconds of play. Thankfully, the former Scotland international made poor contact with his strike and it dribbled wide.

Despite the general direction of traffic early in the game – which saw the visitors getting at a usually stiff Clyde rearguard with worrying regularity and ease – it was the hosts who had the next two presentable chances to break the deadlock. First, Scott Williamson cottoned on to Bradley’s pass before bearing down on goal, but he tried to work the ball onto his favoured right foot and saw the opportunity evaporate. From the following corner, the ball bounced nicely for Timam Scott who looked set to open his account for the club, but he saw his half volley cannon off a defender and wide of the post.

The game wouldn’t remain goalless for long, though, and it was a largely dominant Spartans side who drew first blood in the 19th minute. A poor free kick by the visitors was initially cleared but, when a vertical ball was played straight back into the Clyde box, the only man alive to it was Mark Stowe, who faced up Storey and lifted a smart finish over the young debutant.

You can never count The Bully Wee out of scoring with a man like Williamson up front, though, and five minutes later the division’s top scorer grabbed his 13th league goal of the campaign. It was a similar chance to his earlier one, with the pinpoint through ball this time supplied by Kyle Connell; on this occasion, Williamson turned on the afterburners to get the better of the last defender, before steadying himself and sending an unerring finish beyond visiting ‘keeper Blair Carswell.

Home supporters were hoping that the goal would give their team a lift, but such hope proved to be in vain as a fresh blow arrived another five minutes later. It was a nightmare moment for young Storey as his distribution – otherwise very sound – let him down, and the away side swiftly played the intercepted ball into Stowe inside the area. The winger has made a real habit of scoring against Clyde in recent seasons and he did so once again, curling a lovely finish inside the far post to secure his brace.

Stowe then had a pair of openings with which he ought to have completed his hat trick before half time, but he first sent a difficult first-time effort off target before passing up a criminal chance to put daylight between the teams; having been found in acres of space, he really ought to have done better than produce a smart block from the advancing Storey.

Frustratingly, the second period didn’t herald much of a change for the hosts, who were left clinging to their one-goal deficit by their fingernails when a misjudgement at the back saw McNulty connect with a loose ball before striking the top of the crossbar with a fine volley. Cammy Russell then had the ball in the net, but was deemed to have strayed offside in picking up a concerning amount of space at the back post.

There was a feeling that something had to change if Clyde were to find anything from the match, and Young turned to his bench in the 65th minute. To say the substitutions worked is an understatement; fresh-faced Dundee United loanees Jack Anderson and Jamie Forrest completely changed the complexion of the game after their introduction.

They’d only been on the pitch a matter of seconds when their team equalised, and it’s hard to say they had much to do with it. Barry Cuddihy, who’d been subdued to that point, decided to take matters into his own hands; with his first touch from a clearance sending the ball high above himself, he adjusted his feet, put his laces through it as it dropped and sent a scarcely believable looping strike over the despairing dive of Blair Carswell to spark delirium in the stands.

It was as though a switch had been flipped in the aftermath of that equaliser, with The Bully Wee taking the game to their visitors and looking sharper, quicker and hungrier all over the park. It seemed only a matter of time before they took the lead, with only stout defending from the Spartans defence repelling the now-rampant home side. Amid the snowballing pressure, Bradley came closest when he smashed a volley on target, but could only send it straight down the throat of an otherwise doomed Carswell.

If that shot lacked a touch of quality and composure, his next certainly did not. The diminutive midfielder has always possessed a dazzling turn of foot and he showcased it in some style here, dragging his team to victory with a remarkable solo goal of his own ten minutes from time. Having picked up the ball on the left side of the box, he danced around and beyond challenges and – after producing a change of direction so bewitching that it caused visiting defender Ayrton Sonkur to injure himself, requiring immediate withdrawal – slashed a clinical low finish inside the far post.

Having completed a comeback as unlikely as their collapse in the corresponding fixture at Ainslie Park in August, Clyde then saw out the time which remained very comfortably, helped in no small part by their substitutes’ bravery and composure on the ball.