Clyde 1 Accies 3: 2 April 2005

Bell's Scottish Football League Division 1

Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld, 2 April 2005

Report by Gilbert Mowat

Accies gave themselves a great chance of staying in Division 1 with this marvellous display against Clyde. Apart from a brief spell late in the game, Accies pretty much ran the show from the start and were thoroughly deserved winners. Accies made three changes to the team that had drawn with Queen of the South two weeks ago, with Derek Ferguson, Steven Thomson and Colin Cramb missing through injury. Allan Maitland restored Todd Lumsden to the heart of the defence after a long break and gave a full debut to 17 year old schoolboy (and part time McDonald's employee) James McArthur in midfield. The Accies bench was very attack minded, containing the former Clyde triumvirate of Brian McPhee, Brian Carrigan and Stevie Convery.

Clyde had several key players absent too and gave a debut to Spanish defender Miguel Espinola. In fact, the Bully Wee's cause was not helped by the first half substitutions of Jimmy Gibson and Scott Wilson. Their team was certainly weakened by all of this and they found it hard to compete with a fired up Accies X1. It was a bit disappointing that the teams were level at the break as Accies had created a couple of good chances by that time. The best of these came from Cameroonian midfielder Marcel Mahouvé, who controlled the ball beautifully but then saw his fine shot well saved by Bryn Halliwell in the Clyde goal. One feature of the half had been the excellent way in which big Pat Keogh had led the line for Accies. He didn't really threaten the goal, but he won almost everything in the air and never gave them a moments rest. Dave McEwan's scariest moment came when Marcel overhit a passback but it was happily wide of the goal. Clyde did force a couple of "half-chances" but they didn't make Dave make any saves.

Accies were applauded from the park at the break and I just felt that they might have missed their chance to take advantage of an out of sorts Clyde team. Just then I had a brief chat with Accies Director Denis Gowans, who is always positive about Accies prospects. He told me that not only would Accies win the game but that they would also defeat Airdrie United next Saturday. No mention of the lottery numbers, however. The Accies fans were in a very positive frame of mind at this stage, particularly since we knew that Partick were trailing by two goals down at Dumfries.

Accies took charge after the break and were unfortunate not to score when Mark Corcoran overhit an easy pass to the unmarked Pat Keogh when he was in a great position. We didn't have too long to dwell on this, however, as Accies grabbed a deserved lead after 53 minutes. Mark Corcoran swung in a cross from the left that was just too high for the first Clyde defender and then bounced in just the wrong place for the other centre half. He made a complete hash of it and the ball rolled nicely into the path of Pat Keogh about 12 yards out. The big man wasted no time in lashing it high past Halliwell via the underside of the crossbar.

Naturally, the Accies fans went berserk but even better was to follow just a couple of minutes later. This time it was Mark Corcoran who got the ball out on the right wing and decided to cut in towards goal. He reached the "D" before being tripped for a direct free kick. Marcel dummied it and it was the unlikely figure of Lee Hardy who stepped forward to curl the ball into the far corner past a stunned Halliwell. Things were to get even better in the 68th minute, when Mark Corcoran went for a run down the left wing. He left a Clyde defender for dead inside the area before cutting the ball back for Pat Keogh to net from close range.

That was the signal for some of the Clyde supporters to vacate the premises. You could hardly blame them; their team had been outfought and outplayed from the very beginning. As Accies began to tire a wee bit, Allan Maitland made some changes with Javary, Keogh and Corcoran leaving to healthy applause from the Accies support. Their places were taken by David Hamilton, Brian Carrigan and Brian McPhee. Accies didn't create much in the last 10 minutes and it has to be said that Clyde pretty much ran the show for the remainder of the match. They pulled a goal back when Bryson was allowed to wander through the defence before his low trundler deceived Dave McEwan. But they never really looked like rescuing the game and Accies held on for a richly deserved victory.

This was an outstanding team performance by Accies and they all deserve huge credit for the result. It was great to see Pat Keogh silence his critics with that fine double, but perhaps the best aspect of this game came from the fine full debut by James McArthur in midfield. The 17 year old schoolboy looked completely at home as a replacement for Derek Ferguson and should be a great prospect for the future.

Results elsewhere just can't be ignored. With Partick Thistle losing down at Dumfries, this could well turn out to be one of the defining days of this year's Division 1 season. Accies now have a terrific opportunity to confirm their participation in next year's league. If they can play like this for the next few games, we can all look out the fancy dress for the last game of the season at Firhill.

Clyde: Halliwell, Espinola, Gilhaney, Wilson (Arbuckle 38), Potter, Sheridan, Burns, Gibson (Bryson 29), Jones, Malone, Harty. Subs Not Used: Greenhills, Harris, Morrison.

Goal: Bryson 83.

Hamilton: McEwan, Paquito, Hodge, Lumsden, McLaughlin, Javary (Hamilton 77), McArthur, Hardy, Keogh (Carrigan 81), Mahouvé, Corcoran (McPhee 81). Subs Not Used: Convery, Jellema.

Goals: Keogh 53, Hardy 55, Keogh 68.

Att: 1,235

Ref: J Rowbotham

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