Fortunately we only had to injure 20 minutes of the back four, when Mark Dempsie went off through injury to be replaced by Mark Dempsie. David van Zanten moved to right midfield, leaving a back three of Kirk Broadfoot, Dempsie and MacPherson. Laurie Ellis moved to left wing back. Up to this point Saints had looked half decent, however after the removal of Crilly we never looked the same.
Few things of note happened in the first half. Craig Hinchcliffe pulled off some good saves as Saints looked dodgy at the back, whilst Allan Russell provided some decent croses which had no takers. The closest Saints came was through a bizarre free kick routine. Russell and McGinty stood between Ricky Gillies and the wall. One of the pair then touched the ball back to Gillies, who flicked it up and lashed a shot at goal. Well, that was the theory. it looked a tough shot until Bryn Halliwell in the Clyde goal tamely saved it. Ah well, maybe next time. The other entertaining point was when a Clyde player was booked for skelping a Saints player off the ball. The referee didn't see it, his linesmen didn't flag, but the North Bank made a loud protest so the Clyde player was rightly booked.
For the first 20 minutes or so of the second half, Saints looked poor, with McGinty being the worst of the lot. Clyde deservedly took the lead less than 10 minutes into the half, when Saints failed to clear a corner and Mark Gilhaney scored, possibly with a deflection. Once again Saints had failed to clear their lines, and once again were forced to pay.
Last season Saints would have buckled and the floodgates would have happened, however not this time. Although dodgy defending continued, and the turn around wasn't as dramatic as the St. Johnstone game, Saints did fight back and managed an equaliser. For once, the opposition failed to clear a set piece. A corner wasn't properly cleared with, the ball was swung back into the box and Russell headed into the postage stamp for his second goal in a week. A superb header, though perhaps a little more than we deserved.
After Clyde's next attack, which went out for a goal kick, it was finally time for McGinty to be subbed. He was replaced by Barry Lavety, Basher finally fit enough to take part in a game. He had been ready to come on before the goal, so had to wait a few more minutes for his return after Russell's header.
Clyde had a goal disallowed for some bizarre reason, offside and a foul on Saints defender being mentioned, and Gilhaney hit the post as well. However, with less than five minutes left, Basher nodded on to Russell, and the part time model waltzed past a few Clyde defenders before calmy slotting away the winner. A superb goal, and Russell and Lavety could well be the partnership which sees us do things. With Eddie Annand still to return, Saints have a fine deputy who may not be dropped when Annand returns to fitness.
Clyde responded by bringing on Andy Smith, and despite going close a few times in the remaining few minutes, they failed to equalise and their supporters must surely be wondering how the left without even one point, let alone all three.
Overall a poor performance from Saints, with Brian McGinty being the worst of the lot. However, we won, and often the sign of being a good team is winning when you play poorly. Russell looks like a great signing, whilst Basher should do well once he's a bit fitter. Roll on Tuesday night's cup game against St. Johnstone, though there won't be much of a match report as I can't go :-(