‘It was an easy goal’

Clyde striker John Stewart may be playing like a new man, but even he admitted his revival had little to do with scoring the easiest goal of his career.

Bully Wee boss Jim Duffy suggested it was only Stewart’s lightning anticipation that made his opener on Saturday against Montrose look easy, but Stewart was far more humble as he followed up after Jamie McCluskey’s shot had hit the post and then bounced off Montrose goalkeeper Ramiro Gonzalez to tap home from two yards.

He said: “I have to be honest it was an easy goal. Jamie put in a great strike and I just followed it in, none of the defenders moved and the ball just fell kindly at my feet.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Stewart praised Duffy and his assistant Chic Charnley for turning around both his personal fortunes and that of the club, having been a bit-part player under Stuart Millar.

He said: “The gaffer and Chic have been different class. The place is buzzing and training has become much more enjoyable.

“This isn’t a knock of the previous management team, but maybe we just needed guys with more experience to come and know how to give us a lift.

“Personally I think the main difference is just the fact I’m playing nearly every week whereas under Stuart Millar I started just three games.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I now have four goals and seven or eight assists so I’m definitely pleased with how things have been going.”

Having drawn with then-second placed Albion Rovers last Saturday and then top of the table Arbroath on Tuesday it has been a good week for Clyde, although Stewart felt it was actually their poorest performance that yielded the greatest reward.

He said: “Against Montrose we could probably have had four or five, and although we have definitely played better and not won, sometimes football is just like that.

“In general we are playing really well at the moment and the recent draws against both of the top two maybe shows what might have been.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“But we can’t focus on that, right now we have gained another three points on Montrose and two on East Stirling so they are both in our sights.”

Clyde face a double away header to Annan Athletic this week as they travelled to Galabank last night (Tuesday) and make a return visit on Saturday.

Stewart said: “It can get a bit boring playing the same teams over and over in such a short period of time, but we know that we have so many games in hand that we just have to get on with it.

“Hopefully by the time we have caught up our fixtures we will find ourselves ahead of Montrose and East Stirling and that’s the only motivation we need.”