Good turnout of Lichtie fans at sunny Broadwood still damp underfoot. Weir was forced to make many changes to the starting lineup with Hislop injured and Gibson suspended. McCulloch took over Gibson’s role and performed well while McGuire with Rattray were strong at the back. New loan-signing Megginson partnered Scott up front.
Arbroath started well, with neat passing. After 8 minutes a freekick from the left by Booth was met Scott on the 18 yard line and the firm shot took a wicked deflection to fly past the Clyde keeper – a long overdue piece of luck. Clyde got into the game with some neat passing of their own but seem to lack a bit of cutting edge when the ball came in – but our central defence was strong all afternoon.
Though Clyde had more possession, we seemed to look more dangerous when we got forward. However after 32 minutes another stroke of luck and skill when the Clyde centreback headed a high bouncing ball weakly back to his keeper only for Megginson to nip in and get a foot to send it into the net. Soon after Bryan Scott was chasing a ball right through – probably a chance when he pulled up with a hamstring injury. Rennie came on immediately threatening with a mammoth throw-in which Redman tamely headed at the keeper.
Clyde won a few corners then close to the end a lovely bit of control and skill by Doris saw him fire a shot in from 20 yards which flew inches over.
Second half was a case of Clyde trying to press more leaving more space for Arbroath counterattacks. Clyde won several corners putting us under some pressure, and a couple of freekicks in dangerous positions. However the nearest they came was a great strike in from the left which Hill did really well to get a hand to deflecting onto the post. We had a feeling it might be our day
Arbroath had a number of half chances throughout the second half. Doris and Megginson were fairly lively in spells but we lacked that bit of composure to get the third. McCulloch was yet again a powerhouse in the holding midfielder role getting into the action and organising the troops. Ross came on for the last 10 minutes and did well with defence from the front
We played the game out relatively comfortably. This was a fairly open game with both keepers in action but Arbroath’s early goals and disciplined defending kept us ahead. Other results went our way so, technically, our fate is back in our hands – we need at least 3 more wins out of the last 5 to stay afloat