Clyde 2 Saints 0 League Table Here
Team : Cuthbert, J-Ro, Baxter, Bernard, Dods, Maxwell,
Parker, Reilly, Mixu, Sid, Robertson
Subs : Nelson, Forsyth, McLaughlin, Malone, Foxy
Yet again we start well and then go behind to a stupid goal. Spend the rest of the match chasing shadows and gradually losing discipline and in the end come away with nothing more than some bookings and a large support who have lost the faith once more. Welcome to a typical Saturday afternoon with Saints. To be fair though the team which beat St Midden 11 days ago should have been enough to do the business today. The only change to the starting line-up being the replacement of Eddie Malone with Mark Robertson - whether or not that was due to the youngster's short fuse I don't know but M-Ro had a great game on the right side of midfield.
With a typical hurricane blowing through Broadwood and making for difficult conditions, Saints had the better of the early chances. A Beaky cross in the first minute found Sid in the box but he was unable to turn and get the shot in. Clyde had an effort go wide at the other end before from a Saints goal kick Mixu managed to flick the ball on for Keigan who got through on goal but his low drive was well saved. Mixu had a header go just wide of target from a Baxter cross and Parker was causing a lot of problems for the Clyde defence. We even managed a couple of early corners with Dods managing a header just wide of the goal whilst Clyde (who had obviously been watching the Germany game midweek) were restricted to a Harty dive in the box which didn't even manage to fool Rowbotham.
The game was pretty even with Clyde playing a close game as Saints kept up the pressure. The Cat dealt easily with any crosses coming over but defensively we looked dodgy at times. Still the chances seemed to come our way and in 26 minutes Bernard came close after latching onto a header out of the Clyde box from a corner. Unfortunately the ball was at the wrong height for his attempted volley. And a couple of minutes later he picked up a warning from ChromeDome in the middle for a couple of late challenges. The half-hour saw Maxwell and Dods get into a bit of a fankle playing some nice short passes out of defence only for Clyde to counter and cross into the box for everyone to miss.
Millen had a volley which the Cat easily held. But in 35 minutes we had our best chance after Keigan was fouled 25 yards out. Mark Robertson who had an excellent game curled the free-kick round the wall only for the ball to come back off the bar. Then in 43 minutes later some good play on the left saw Parker, Sid and Maxwell link to cross the ball into the box for Mixu but his header lacked power and Halliwell easily held it. Then the keeper proceeded to punt the ball wind-assisted down the park. No defenders near Harty and the Cat coming off his line so the Clyde striker managed to head the ball over the keeper and despite a panic dash back by Robbo the ball ended up in the net. Cue cheers in the home stand and what can only be described as stunned silence in the away end as the Cat let rip at his defence.
Unfortunately half-time came and went without the expected arse-kicking and Clyde had the early pressure. We had a couple of corners with Mixu's header missed by Sid in the box but for the most part Kernaghan simply got his players to close us down and with the midfield stifled and sitting back, the defence resorted to the long ball. Keigan had a good volley held in 56 minutes and from a corner a couple of minutes later a Sid corner was headed down by Bernard for Mark Robertson to attempt a volley that was held. But then Clyde killed the game off on the counter attack with a break down the right ending in a low ball into the goalmouth. Dods and Robbo both failed to clear and McConalogue was there to hit a low shot past the unsighted Cat and make it 2-0.
After that we went to pieces as the lack of confidence and faith in their own abilities shone through. Within a couple of minutes Mark Robertson picked up a booking for a late challenge and just to top that Mixu picked up a similar card at the same time for dissent. In 65 minutes Bernard and Baxter were taken off and McLaughlin and Malone came on as we switched to a 3-5-2.
To be fair we had some chances. Parker had a neat cutback to Mixu but his shot was poor. The Cat made a good save from Harty as Clyde broke but we were unable to break down their defence with Sid and Mixu especially poor. Nine minutes from time Mixu managed to get the break of the ball from the Clyde defence but he took far too long on the ball in the box allowing Halliwell to come out and block the shot. Mavis had a decent effort go over the bar but the last real piece of controversy came towards the end. Clyde broke after Mark Robertson was caught on the ball. Parker got back and put in a decent enough tackle but Rowbotham ruled it a foul and then booked the Saints striker - you try and tell me he's not being victimised?
We weren't a total shambles but the way the heads went down after losing the first goal and the failure to deal with the cross for the 2nd cost us dear. MoM for me was Mark Robertson who put in a good 90 minutes and seemed more committed than some of the bigger name signings from the summer.
Let's just hope it's another blip.....
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| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Ross County | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 10 |
| Clyde | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 10 |
| Raith | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
| Falkirk | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Caley Thistle | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Saints | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| Queen of the South | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| St Mirren | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Ayr United | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 2 |
| Brechin | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 1 |
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