Stenhousemuir FC v Clyde

Match Report

Stenhousemuir v Clyde at Ochilview Park on 2.7.13

Pre-season Friendly

Stenhousemuir 2 [Smith 41, Craig 63] Clyde 2 [McDonald 37, Sweeney 55]

Stenhousemuir went into this game on the back of a draw against Craigroyston and they were to repeat the score in this game. It was a game that had a different feel from the game against the Edinburgh side with a more physical aspect at times to the play.

Dan Nimmo was promoted into the starting eleven after coming off the bench the previous game and he partnered Ross McMillan in central defence, instead of Craig Anderson, , a position that is open to competition just now due to the injury of Scot Buist. There was also a trialist on view in place of John Gemmell and Salim Kouider-Aissa replaced David Rowson.

Clyde’s Gavin Brown making a hefty challenge on Eddie Malone in the first couple of minutes indicated that it would not be a tippy tappy game. Stenhousemuir started the game the better but the ball was breaking down in the final third of the park and for all their possession it was Clyde that created the  better chances. In the 23^rd minute a burst down the wing by Brown ended with a cross to Michael Daly but the ex-Annan player headed over. In the 37^th minute Daly was fouled by Nimmo and the Bully Wee were aggrieved that a penalty was not given as they felt there was an infringement in the box. The referee Alan Newlands though awarded a free kick instead. Seconds later thought there were no complaints as Kieran McDonald fired an effort into the net to put the Cumbernauld side into the lead. It was a well struck effort but he was helped by a porous wall. Stenhousemuir struck back in the 41^st minute when a looping header from a tight angle by Darren Smith deceived Nik Rajovic and landed in the net.

The second half saw Sean Dickson make his first appearance of the season but he was unable to make much impact as it was really just a run out after he had missed a fair share of training through injury and this was just testing the waters.

The game in the second period failed to get into any rhythm with a number of substitutions breaking the play up. Clyde though took the lead once again in the 55^th minute. Again it was from another well struck free kick this time from John Sweeney that landed in the back of the net and again Clyde had a helping hand as the wall did not seem to be set properly.

The Warriors were not behind for long though as they equalised in the 63^rd minute. This time it was the home side that did the damage from a free kick. The difference though was that it was not a direct attempt at goal but a cross of quality by Eddie Malone that was headed home by the trialist who was Steven Craig ex-Partick Thistle.

Chances after that were few and far between though both teams could have added to their tally but failed to do so and thus the game ended level.

Although it was not the best performance by Stenhousemuir it showed that the building of the team and tactics is definitely still a work in progress and there was plenty for the management to work on. 

Stenhousemuir – C.Smith, Devlin, Malone, Nimmo, McMillan [Docherty 67], Hodge [Dickson h/t], Lynch, Brash [Anderson h/t], Craig[t][Lawson 67], Kouider-Aissa and, D.Smith [Thomson 55].

Clyde – Rajovic [Barclay 70], Brown [Young 74], Traynor [Jonett 82][t], Gray [Francis h/t][t], McQueen, MacBeth [McGhee 80], Orrick [McColm h/t], Sweeney, Daly [Dickie 67], Scullion and McDonald [Finlayson 65][t].

Referee – Alan Newlands            Assistants – Ralph Gordon and Howard Wilkin