Clyde boss Jim Duffy admits he’s relieved to get through to the League One play-off final after a battling 2-1 aggregate win over League Two side East Fife.
The Bully Wee took a 1-0 lead back to New Douglas Park last night, but the visitors were on form and took the lead through Scott Shepherd in 10 minutes to take the game into extra time.
However, Shepherd was red carded in 83 minutes, and Martin Rennie bagged what proved to be the winner 17 minutes into extra-time to put Clyde through to the final against either Annan or Dumbarton.
With a 6-0 first-leg advantage, going into today’s clash at Dumbarton, that will almost certainly be Annan, with Clyde travelling in the first leg on Tuesday, before bringing the tie back to Hamilton next Friday night.
Clyde started well last night, with Kyle Doherty firing over the bar in the second minute.
However, East Fife took the lead through Shepherd, and Liam Newton had a cross/shot diverted over the bar by keeper Ryan Mullen.
Darren Hynes nearly levelled for Clyde on the night in 69 minutes, but keeper Allan Fleming touched it over the bar.
An elbow on Ross Lyon saw Shepherd receive a second yellow and his marching orders in 83 minutes, and Clyde’s Olly McDonald was twice thwarted by Fleming as the clock ticked down.
But they hauled themselves back in front in 107 minutes when Jon Craig's shot was pushed onto the post by Fleming and Rennie reacted to smash home the rebound.
A relieved Duffy said: “These are the kinds of games that you just want to get through, and fortunately we managed that.
“When you go into these kinds of games you know how tough they are.
“East Fife showed how good a side they were, they were by far the better side in the first half, and the only consolation we had was that there was only one goal and it was 1-1 over the course of the two games.
“They definitely were the team on the front foot and we were hanging on a little bit.
“I made a couple of changes at half-time, changed the shape, and we got the equaliser to take it into extra time.
“In the second half we were a lot better, we were on the front foot. Ryan still had a good save to make in the second half, but generally speaking we had more crosses, a few shots, and were much better.
“The red card gave us a little bit more of a breathing space, but nevertheless, East Fife gave absolutely everything and made it so difficult for us.”
With such a commanding lead, Duffy expects to be travelling to Galabank on Tuesday.
He said: “We’re in the final now against Annan, who have that huge advantage over Dumbarton. That’s going to be unbelievably tough.
“It’s looking like it’s going to be Annan. We’ve got to be realistic, Annan have a six-goal advantage, and it would be one of the biggest collapses of all time if Dumbarton can turn that around.
“I’ll let the boys try and recover and have a wee roll call over the next couple of days and see how many players we have available for that game.
“I’ve got nothing but praise for them, all credit to them, and I’m delighted to take it to the final week of the season.”
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