McNiff goal enough as Clyde ease past Rovers

The Bully Wee dominated the game from start to finish and were unlucky not to see that reflected more in the final score line.

Danny Lennon named an unchanged starting 11 from the team who beat Annan Athletic 2-1 at the start of the month.

Clyde started well and had a good chance three minutes in when Mark Lamont’s half volley from the edge of the box went narrowly over the cross bar.

David Goodwillie was next up to try his luck when he found a yard of space inside the box just two minutes later but his shot was just wide of the far post.

Clyde kept up the pressure and had a great opportunity on ten minutes as Ally Love broke free down the left flank and into the box, his shot was parried low by Peter Morrison in the Albion goal before falling to Lamont at 15 yards whose shot looked destined for the top corner but Morrison recovered brilliantly to make a great diving save and tip the ball out for a corner.

Chris McStay was next to have a go on 15 minutes but his low drive from just outside the area was right down the throat of Morrison.

The Clyde pressure paid off on 19 minutes when John Rankin won a corner which fell to Martin McNiff at the back post who drove the ball hard and low in to the far corner for the opening goal.

Goodwilie then almost made it 2-0 from the exact same spot shortly after as Love’s cross eventually came to him at the back post but the striker fired wide of the far post.

From then on till the break the home side did not trouble Morrison in the Albion goal but created a few half chances and dominated the possession.

Rovers on the other hand had been unable to make any impact on the game with Blair Currie not having to make a single save for the first 45 minutes.

Things weren’t much different after the break and Goodwillie was first to get a sniff as he took the ball into the box from the right channel, beating three men along the way, but his eventual shot was held low by Morrison.

Two minutes later the Albion keeper was forced in to a diving save to palm Lamont’s left foot curling shot from 18 yards out for a corner.

The Broadwood crowd would have been forgiven for expecting another half hour of Clyde peppering shots at the Albion goal but surprisingly chances were few and far between for both sides.

Albion were able to find a footing in the game but were still unable to challenge Currie at all while Clyde had more of the ball but looked a lot less threatening.

The closest they came to 2-0 was on 87 minutes when Goodwille broke in on goal and managed to get a shot away from close range but Morrison did really well to make himself big as the ball rattled him in the face before being cleared.