Clyde climb to second place

Clyde moved second in the Ladbrokes League Two table with a thrilling 3-2 win over Arbroath at Broadwood on Saturday.
Clyde put pressure on the Arbroath defenceClyde put pressure on the Arbroath defence
Clyde put pressure on the Arbroath defence

Barry Ferguson’s side leapfrogged their visitors in the table, but remain four points behind early pacesetters Forfar Athletic.

It took the Bully Wee just six minutes to get up and running on a sunny September Saturday. Scott Linton cut inside from the left and unleashed a powerful strike which took 18-year-old Arbroath keeper Robbie Mutch by surprise and nestled in the bottom right-hand corner.

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Arbroath were level on 12 minutes, however, when a neat flick found its way to on-loan Dundee striker Josh Skelly who neatly tucked his shot into the bottom corner.

The early goals kept on coming and on 23 minutes Clyde regained their advantage. A perfect corner whipped in from Dylan Easton found centre-back Martin McNiff, who beat the keeper from the top of the six yard box with a powerful header.

After the early spree of goals, the game levelled out somewhat. Steven Doris went close for Arbroath on 35 minutes when his acrobatic flick went inches wide of the post.

At the other end, the skilful Easton was central to all things good for Clyde. His corner delivery found the head of Chris Smith who nodded over the crossbar, before a delicate chip found its way into the box only for two Clyde players to miss from close range.

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Clyde were made to pay for those missed opportunities as a forceful run from Bobby Linn ended with the nippy Arbroath winger smashing across goal and into the bottom corner to make it 2-2 before the break.

The second half was fairly quiet until around the 70 minute mark when Clyde’s first shot on target of the half led to their first goal of the half.

A goal-kick from John Gibson travelled the full distance of the pitch and Peter McDonald was big and strong enough to hold off an Arbroath defender before lashing in from inside the box to give his side the lead.

Scott Ferguson returned to action for Clyde in the second period after eight months out to a great ovation from the home fans. Unfortunately Dylan Easton, pivotal to most good things for the hosts, left the field on a stretcher 15 minutes later.

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Clyde were forced to play the game out with 10 men, but were unlucky to be denied a penalty when the free-kick which followed Easton’s injury appeared to strike an Arbroath arm.

Arbroath’s Martin Scott had the last chance of the game as he struck a bouncing ball inches past the post in the last minute.

Clyde held on to pick up what could prove to be a very important three points against a top of the table rival - inflicting Arbroath’s first defeat of the season in the process.