IN pretty much any other season, amassing 25 points from eight wins and a draw from your first 10 matches would be enough to see you clear at the top of League Two. But due to the massive strides made by James McDonaugh’s Edinburgh City side, who have been in imperious form so far in league and cup, Peterhead have had to make do with riding on their coattails – with the only league match in which they tasted defeat coming against the league leaders at Balmoor.
The two sides were due to face each other again in a few weeks’ time, in what was shaping up to be one of the matches of the season, but due to Edinburgh’s dismantling of League One pace-setters Arbroath, which saw them progress to the quarter-final of the Irn Bru Cup, that match has unfortunately been postponed.
Now the longest-serving manager in Scotland – and now featured in a signed portrait that could take its place above your mantlepiece for just £105, the perfect Christmas gift for that difficult-to-buy-for uncle – Jim McInally took his side to Broadwood at the weekend to face a Clyde side that has stalled in recent weeks.
Available now from the Balmoor Stadium Club Shop and online at https://t.co/JW9U9XwOr3
— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) October 25, 2018
JIM McINALLY PRINT
Autographed
Mount Only £70
Framed £105 pic.twitter.com/ADQB1cfeoq
There was some added bite to this fixture, in the stands at least, after an unsavoury incident involving a savoury snack when the sides met at Balmoor earlier in the season.
In David Goodwillie Clyde have goals and in Danny Lennon they have a manager with some pedigree – and despite their recent form they had only lost once at home in four league matches so far this season.
For now, Clyde remain among the promotion contenders, though they will have to buck up their ideas soon if they still harbour aspirations of securing the one automatic promotion spot. Defeat at Edinburgh next week could be the end of that particular ambition.
Pound for pound, it is Peterhead who have the best squad in the division, even if Edinburgh are getting more out of theirs at the moment. The Blue Toon have a star striker of their own in Rory McAllister – who has netted nine times already this season – though it was another, Derek Lyle, who came off the bench to produce two fantastic strikes and secure the win for McInally’s men.
Peterhead bullied Clyde all over the park. Scott Brown – who opened the scoring with an excellent strike before setting up Lyle for the second – and Jack Leitch dominated their direct opponents, while their defenders hardly gave up an inch to the Clyde attack, even when spending large parts of the second half without the ball.
The away side were reduced to 10 men around an hour in and with the score 1-0, but rather than take advantage of this and level the scoring, Tom Lang’s two bookings in the space of a few minutes meant that parity was restored in terms of personnel instead.
On this form, any slump in results by the league leaders is likely to be pounced on by the Balmoor side.
Duffy gets an instant response from Dumbarton
THERE was understandably some excitement among when Jim Duffy was announced as the Dumbarton manager. Just like his Raith counterpart he’s been there and done it at this level, winning League One with Morton in 2015 before turning the side into a solid Championship outfit.
Dubbed “Duffy the Vampire Slayer” by the club’s Twitter account ahead of Halloween, the new manager marked his return to the dugout with an emphatic 4-0 over East Fife – a side which had won its previous eight matches – the type of result sorely lacking From Dumbarton before Saturday.
— Dumbarton FC (@Dumbartonfc) October 24, 2018
Duffy was instantly and impressively able to organise and motivate a squad at a low ebb, helping them to record their first league win in five matches.
Chris Smith started after signing on emergency loan from East Kilbride, while Ross Forbes started in an unfamiliar role at left-back where he excelled.
Further forward, Bobby Barr and Callum Gallacher caused no end of problems on the wings and Dom Thomas, playing just behind Iain Russell in attack, was a class above.
The gameplan was fairly simple: press East Fife into making errors and attack the wide areas when in possession.
It is the first time the team has scored four goals in a match since March 2017 and, given the how tight the league is – Dumbarton sit in ninth, just four points off Forfar in fourth – it may not be long until we see Duffy’s side challenging towards the top of the division.
Neilson maintains impressive run
IN his previous spell as manager of a Championship side, Robbie Neilson recorded 29 victories and lost just three of his 36 games in charge.
Now at Dundee United, the very early evidence is that trend is to continue, with the former Hearts manager recording two wins and a draw from his first three matches in charge.
With Paul McMullan – penalty miss aside – on form and on the scoresheet, and the likes of Billy King rejuvenated, United took advantage of an out-of-sorts Dunfermline side to make it two wins from two away from home.
#RISE Post-match interview with Robbie Neilson. #Dufc pic.twitter.com/IXBkhOR13D
— Dundee United FC (@dundeeunitedfc) October 27, 2018
It was during that season in the Championship under Neilson at Hearts that King showed the best form of his career. Here, he McMullan and Fraser Aird formed an interchanging trio behind Pavol Safranko in attack, which pulled the Dunfermline defence out of position.
After a fairly uneventful first half, United upped their game after the break and were sharper, hungrier and more aggressive.
With the top two also winning, Neilson’s side remain five points off the top and four behind Ayr in second.
Next up is fourth-placed Queen of the South at Tannadice before a huge test away to Ross County.
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