Clyde 1-0 East Fife, Saturday 27th April 2024
New Douglas Park, cinch League Two
East Fife fell to their third consecutive defeat, when we lost 1-0 to Clyde, who started the day at the foot of the table. The result sees the Bully Wee move 2 points clear of the bottom placed Stranraer ahead of the final game week.
Dick Campbell made 3 changes to the side that fell 2-1 to Forfar Athletic last weekend, with Nathan Austin, Brian Easton and Brogan Walls all replacing Pat Slattery, Ryan Schiavone and Alan Trouten. The return of Fash in particular was a welcome one, though he wasn’t fed many chances in the game against Clyde, with the centre halves doing well to keep him quiet.
The game was void of many chances, with Clyde having the most success with their long ball attack, causing our back line some bother throughout.
Their first opportunity came after quarter of an hour, when Jordan Allan tried lob Allan Fleming. The goalie got his huge glove on it, parrying it into the path of Ballantyne but somehow the creative player squandered his chance, even though it looked easier to score than miss.
Scott Shepherd then had a chance up the other end, beating his marker on the wing before trying to slide the ball back into the box. It was cleared at the last minute by Grant, in what was an impressive piece of defending.
On the half an hour mark, the Bully Wee got in behind again, though Allan snatched at his effort, and it was dragged wide, keeping the score goalless.
That wasn’t the case for long however, as Martin Rennie capitalised on poor set-piece defending from the Fifers. The experienced striker continued his haunting streak over East Fife, having scored twice against us in the league already this season.
Just before the half time whistle, we were forced into a change, with the experienced Brian Easton coming off injured, being replaced by Jonathan Page. Shortly after his appearance on the pitch, the whistle blew for half time. Clyde 1-0 East Fife.
The second half started similar to the first, in the vein that the hosts continued to make the better chances of the two teams.
Howie had a half chance from a whipped cross that our number 1 caught with ease after 56 minutes, but it should have been 2 after 73.
Scullion’s cross to the back post proved dangerous, with Howie once again the first man to it. Fleming had to do what he does all too often, and produce a wonder save, though it was right into the path of Martin Rennie. It looked easier to score than miss, though the forward blew it, as the shot trickled wide, via a deflection.
Our best chance of the game came in the 85th minute. Robbie Hamilton’s marker was sent through the ringer with a tidy flick, before he floated a cross into the danger area. Pagey met it at the back post, though his headed effort was right down the goalie’s throat.
Clyde had another chance before the full-time whistle, that was only denied thanks to a fantastic Liam Newton sliding challenge.
All in all, a disappointing day at the office.
Report by Oli Anderson
Clyde – Kinnear, Hamilton, Howie, McGinn (Dunachie 82’), Cuddihy, Scullion, R Grant, Rennie (Hynes 90+2’), Ballantyne, Allan. Subs not used: Parry, P Grant, Young, Cameron, Lesley, Kabia, Sula
East Fife – Fleming, Murdoch, Newton, Blaney, Easton (Page 45’), Millar, McManus (Lyon 73’), Shepherd, Healy (Nicol 72’), Walls (Hamilton 65’), Austin. Subs not used: Slattery, Docherty, Murray, Beveridge, Ramsay.
Referee – Iain Sneddon
Attendance – 939