Cinch Scottish League One: Three Things we Learned as Clyde top the Table on Opening Day
Scottish League One returned this weekend as season 2022/2023 got underway…
Clyde in resounding victory as they hit four past Queen’s at Palmerston
Clyde opened the new season in spectacular fashion as the cruised to a 4-1 victory over Queen of the South in Dumfries.
Lee Connelly opened the scoring within 20 seconds in a nightmare start for the Bully Wee, however, Olly McDonald pulled the score level in the 16th minute. Ross Cunningham then struck home on the cusp of half-time as the visitors took a narrow lead into the break.
Ruari Paton passed up a golden chance to bring the Doonhammers back into the game with under 10 minutes remaining as his spot-kick was comfortably saved by Neil Parry. Clyde then added a third through Jordan Allan in the 82nd minute with Euan Cameron completing the rout during a frantic end to the match which saw Connelly sent off for the hosts.
The result means the Bully Wee end the weekend top of the table on goal-difference ahead of their opening home match against Peterhead at New Douglas Park next Saturday, while Queen’s visit Montrose at Links Park.
Queen of the South player-manager, Willie Gibson: “I’m disappointed, gutted and quite angry with the performance and we weren’t good enough in any department. I thought Clyde outfought us, outworked us and bullied us. I said to the boys before the game, we qualified out the group, that was good, we got a good draw, fine but the big one was today, first league game and we let the fans down.”
Clyde manager, Danny Lennon: “I thought it was a game that had absolutely everything in it, the emotions of conceding as early as we did and the character of the players to come back from that very quick set-back was pleasing to see. I thought it was nothing more than the overall performance deserved, very good goals and good quick-breaks. I felt over the piece we were the most dominant team and I thought the work-rate and effort was through the roof, which was satisfying to see and shows that hard work always pays off.”
FC Edinburgh mark League One debut with victory over Kelty Hearts
FC Edinburgh got their League One account off to a flyer with a 2-0 win over fellow rivals Kelty Hearts at New Central Park.
John Robertson opened the deadlock for the Citizens in the 34th minute and had the perfect opportunity to add his second deep into the second-half, however, his penalty-kick was denied by Jamieson.
The visitors then doubled their advantage through Ouzy See in the final minute of normal time to earn all three points.
The victory for Alan Maybury’s side takes them up to third-place in the early standings with their next match at home against Dunfermline Athletic at Meadowbank. Meanwhile, Kelty Hearts, who unfurled the League Two flag, saw their opening match end in a disappointing note. The Maroon Machine visit Clackmannanshire next Saturday to face Alloa Athletic.
Kelty Hearts manager, John Potter: “Obviously disappointed with the result. Performance-wise, I thought first-half we got into good areas but the final third we were probably lacking. Second-half, we started well and were on top going forward. We need to be more creative in front of goal and add that bit more quality and we didn’t do that.”
FC Edinburgh manager, Alan Maybury: “We were going to the team that won our league by quite a distance last season and deservedly so, but we wanted to come here to compete and I felt we did that today. I thought in the end we could’ve scored a couple more. We had to weather a storm at the start of the second-half as we knew they’d would come at us. It was just decision-making or not having enough composure of the ball, but defensively we put our bodies on the line.”
Airdrie ease past Peterhead to open league campaign on a positive footing
Airdrieonians eased to a comfortable 2-0 win over Peterhead at Balmoor, in what was Rhys McCabe’s first league match as player-manager.
The Diamonds were in control during the first-half with Callum Smith first to get on the scoresheet in the 33rd minute which was followed by Craig Watson’s strike six minutes later.
The result has the North Lanarkshire side second in the table ahead of Falkirk’s visit to the Excelsior Stadium next Saturday while Peterhead, who are on a winless run of five matches, take the journey down to Hamilton to face Clyde.
Peterhead manager, Jim McInally: “The second-half performance was much better and I would say we were competitive after the break. I thought we started the game okay in the first 10-15 minutes, we got into a couple of good situations and we could’ve done better. 2-0 was kind to us at half-time really, they hit the bar, got their goals and were getting it too easy. Second-half, we did a bit better and if we had taken one of our chances, who knows what could’ve happened.”
Airdrieonians player-manager, Rhys McCabe: “Delighted, obviously to come up to Peterhead, where it’s notoriously hard to get a result and I thought we were really comfortable throughout the game. Again, on the strikers and midfielders, we have to be clinical and lucky enough today we had a comfortable lead at half-time but on another day that might come back to bite us.”
Scottish League One Results:
Dunfermline Athletic 1-0 Alloa Athletic
Falkirk 0-0 Montrose
Kelty Hearts 0-2 FC Edinburgh
Peterhead 0-2 Airdrieonians
Queen of the South 1-4 Clyde
Scottish League One Table: As It Stands