Clyde 1-3 Hamilton: Bully Wee make Accies work for victory

The match was being held at Ochilview because the Broadwood pitch was being upgraded but the Bully Wee settled quicker and almost opened the scoring through Chris Johnston, whose powerful effort from the edge of the box was tipped on to the post by Owain Fon Williams.

Chances were at a premium in the first half but Accies youngster Lewis Smith forced a fine save out of David Mitchell with a piledriver from distance before the youngster went close again moments later curling narrowly wide.

Accies didn’t have to wait much longer for the deadlock to be broken and it was through an unlikely source in McMann who scored his first ever goal for the club in over 100 appearances, and they could have extended that advantage had it not been for a fine save by Mitchell from McGowan’s header.

Clyde almost got back into it before the break but Smith couldn’t flick the ball past Fon Williams.

Danny Lennon’s men were given a mountain to climb shortly after the break when Accies doubled their lead thanks to Alston. The midfielder was lurking on the edge of the box and when the ball arrived from Ronan Hughes’ cross, he despatched a volley into the bottom corner.

Clyde didn’t let that setback deflate them and they halved the deficit through Kristtofer Syvertsen, who finished a great move down the right involving Kieran Duffie and Johnston.

However, Accies made sure of the points when Smith capped off a fine performance driving forward and curling the ball into the bottom corner on 76 minutes.

Clyde boss Danny Lennon said; “I really enjoyed our first half performance and if we can maintain that through the season then we’ll certainly set ourselves in good stead.

“Hamilton, as you’d expect, in the second half their fitness levels came through.

“We’ll use these games as building blocks and for long periods I was very pleased in the way we moved the ball, the pressing, the tempo and the effort. We made it difficult for Hamilton and I felt they scored against the run of play but they finished their goals very well.

“This was a great test for us and it’s one we’ll take a great deal from.”