Clyde 1 - Brown (90+4)
Morton 1 - Newby (40)
Att: 1638
We wuz robbed! Clyde - aided and abetted by referee Chris Boyle - stole an undeserved point with a goal in the fourth minute of injury time.
Irons surprised everyone (well me anyway) when he started with the same 3-4-3 formation he went with against St. Mirren. Stewart Greacen, Alex Walker and Brian Wake were deemed fit enough to start after injury worries earlier in the week. Stevie Masterton was the man who made way for Greacen.
We took the lead in the fortieth minute. Iain Russell cut in from the right wing and put Jon Newby one-on-one with David Hutton with a clever through ball. Newby's first effort was easily saved by Hutton but the rebound came back to the ex-Liverpool youngster and he made no mistake slotting home from a tight angle to score his first goal for the club on his debut.
Morton created numerous goalscoring opportunities through the course of the game - some of which they will really regret failing to take. Iain Russell missed a few good chances in particular. In the first half he headed a Finlayson cross straight into Hutton's arms. In the second half he looked certain to score when he raced through on goal from the left hand side of the pitch but with only the keeper to beat he scuffed his shot and it trickled weakly by the post. He crashed a shot off the outside junction of bar and post with a similar chance from the opposite side.
Russell's chances weren't the only ones. In the second half we came close when Peter Weatherson smashed a free-kick towards the top corner but Hutton was equal to it and pushed it round the post for a corner. Jim McAlister twisted and turned on the left and drove a cross cum shot across the face of goal and Wake lunged at it unfortunately for us he was inches from a connection and another chance slid away.
Not only did we look like we could create chances but we never looked like conceding. We were sold from back to front. The strikers worked their balls off up front. Paartalu broke everything up in midfield, Greacen was colossal in defence and Colin Stewart was solid in goal. But that all changed four minutes from time when Brian Wake was sent off for a clumsy challenge on Neil McGregor. From there on in we were put under severe pressure as we sat back and tried to hold on for the three points. Our efforts were admirable but it couldn't go on indefinitely and referee Chris Boyle seemed determined to play until we eventually cracked. Four scandalous minutes into injury time Willie McLaren flighted over a corner Colin Stewart came for it but was caught under the ball in no man's land and Mark Brown headed down into the ground and up into the roof of the net to score. Colin Stewart decision to try and collect by going through a packed group of players certainly played it's part but you can't help but be infuriated by the amount of injury time Boyle decided to play - there was no way four minutes was merited.
In spite of the result there was much to be encouraged by. We are a well organised, hard working side who will be hard to break down and even harder to bully in tight matches. So I can't see many teams beating us this season but what I do worry about (only slightly though) are where the goals are going to come from. The strikers work so hard but I can't see any of them scoring a lot of goals. If one of the three we have does go through a prolific goalscoring spell I think we could have a better season than anyone expected.
Clyde manager, John Brown, summed the match up for me. He said: "Davie will feel hard done by with the equaliser coming in injury time. But we didn't deserve anything."
Morton (3-4-3):
1. Stewart - 7
2. Weatherson - 7
3. Walker - 7
4. Greacen (c) - 8
5. Paartalu - 8
6. McGuffie - 7
7. McAlister - 7
8. Finlayson - 7
9. Wake - 7
10. Newby - 7 (16. Reid [Trialist] - 73 mins)
11. Russell - 7
Subs Not Used:
12. Harding
14. Masterton
15. McAnespie
20. Cuthbert [Trialist]
Booked: Walker, Wake, Paartalu, McAlister, McGuffie.
Sent Off: Wake (89)
1st Half
Stewart
Weatherson Greacen Walker
Finlayson McGuffie Paartalu McAlister
Russell Wake Newby
Clyde: Hutton, Neil McGregor, Ohnesorge (Ruari MacLennan 75), Higgins, Brown, Kettlewell, Gibson, Trouten, Gemmill (Clarke 46), McKay (McSwegan 62), McLaren.
Subs Not Used: Roddy MacLennan, Cherrie.
Booked: McGregor, Higgins.
My man of the match: Erik Paartalu
Sponsor's man of the match:Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)
Yesterday I asked whether Alan Reid (pictured) and Kevin Cuthbert had been signed or played as trialists - the answer was that they were trialists.
