Lennon's Clyde bully Stirling
CLYDE and Peterhead began the season as the League Two title favourites but it is Danny Lennon’s side that has made the slightly better start.
Clyde are the only team in the division to have taken maximum points after an Ally Love double and a header from David Goodwillie blew away Stirling Albion – a side which began the season with title aspirations of their own but which are now on a run of 11 league matches without victory.
Shortly after being appointed last November, Lennon steadied the ship with a series of 0-0 draws before slowly improving and finishing the season strongly. In the end they were not far off an unlikely promotion play-off position.
With Lennon at the helm and the squad he at his disposal, the Clyde support can harbour a realistic expectation that a play-off position is achievable at the very least this time around. In Goodwillie they have the best striker, if not the best player, in the division and he appears to be forming an understanding with strike partner Love.
Behind them is a talented midfield quartet of John Rankin, Kevin Nicoll, Ray Grant and Chris McStay, which Lennon has well drilled off the ball as well as on it.
Finally, the defence is in good shape having not conceded a goal in the two league games so far, with Jordan Stewart providing drive from left-back and Barry Cuddihy growing into his converted role on the opposite side.
Martin McNiff put in a superb defensive performance at Forthbank, winning everything, though was upstaged in the highlights by his central-defensive partner Scott Rumsby, who outrageously prevented a Stirling attack from going any further by executing a slide tackle with his neck.
Putting your body on the line... great work by @Scottyrumsby31 yesterday making a tackle with the back of his head! 👊 pic.twitter.com/9z7YJMWqOk
— Clyde FC (@ClydeFC) August 12, 2018
For Dave Mackay’s men, suffice it to say that when your stadium announcer has Bad Day queued up and ready to play following at the full-time whistle, you’ve not had a very good afternoon.
It’s a big season for Mackay’s side, who fell away after being the early pace-setters last season. There is now growing discontent among the supporters after a horrendous finish to last season has seemingly carried into this one.
Meanwhile, Peterhead got their season back on track with an emphatic win over Albion Rovers – still the only side in the SPFL not to score this season – and have a formidable strike partnership in Derek Lyle and Rory McAllister. They are both now off the mark after the former’s goal on Saturday and with two goals in as many games McAllister has earned the accolade of being the first player in the SPFL to net a century of goals.
They now sit second on goal difference after a 4-0 victory at Cliftonhill, setting up beautifully what will be the game of the day when they host Clyde this weekend.
Brechin win their first league match in 39 attempts
AFTER 38 losses and 470 days without a league victory, Brechin City finally won with a 1-0 victory over East Fife – their last win coming back in April 2017.
WE'VE WON A LEAGUE GAME!
— Brechin City (@BrechinCFC) August 11, 2018
470 days later we have secured our first League win since beating Albion Rovers 29th April 2017 1-0 at Glebe Park.
Brechin City 1-0 East Fife, Sinclair.
The Angus side were a surprise addition to the Championship last season after they negotiated their way past Raith Rovers and won a sensational two-legged tie against Alloa Athletic to take their place in Scotland’s second tier.
Unfortunately for manager Darren Dods, his side failed to record a single victory during that campaign, though it has been said that his playing budget was cut following promotion, leaving what was already an uphill battle feeling more like the Travelator from Gladiators.
Their start to the League One campaign wasn’t much better and must have left regular attendees to The Hedge worrying that that drought would continue long past this unusually long summer.
They were handed a relatively gentle opener against a newly promoted Stenhousemuir. After going 1-0 down early on they were thrown a lifeline when Stenny were reduced to 10 men but failed to break down a resolute defence.
However, with missing players slowly returning to the side and the monkey off their back, things are looking up for Dods’s side.
You could have forgiven them had they approached Saturday in a cagey manner, but they went for it and were unlucky not to win by a more comfortable margin.
Congratulations to Jordan Sinclair shown here receiving a well deserved Man of the Match Award from club sponsors Scott & Kenzie Macmillan of James Lammonds Plumbers. pic.twitter.com/2xjOGEvmLr
— Brechin City FC Official (@BrechinCityFC) August 12, 2018
With Andy Jackson, Jordan Sinclair, Callum Tapping and Ryan McGeever in this form it gives the manager a strong spine to work with.
County the early pace-setters
AFTER two games played Ross County are the only side to maintain a 100% record in the Championship.
It’s no surprise that with the backing of Roy MacGregor that they have retained a very strong squad and have added a few that have performed well at this level in the past.
One of those is Josh Mullin, who after the previous week’s man-of-the-match performance opened the scoring in the win over Dunfermline with an outstanding strike from an angle he had no right to be shooting from.
Their 3-1 win was a statement of intent and even at this early stage it looks like the league is theirs to lose.
Michael Gardyne returned from suspension to add some much-needed width on the left-hand side and it was he who capitalised on a mistake from Ryan Williamson to restore County’s lead, which they later extended.
They struggled to break down a stubborn Alloa side on the opening day until they netted an 88th-minute winner but the fact that they ground out the result, and followed it up with an emphatic win against one of those tipped to be their title rivals, bodes well for their promotion push.
For Dunfermline it was a bit of a reality check after a strong showing in the League Cup group stage and an impressive victory at Tannadice.
Thank you to Stuart McFarlane for his input (@SMcFarlane_22)
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