Former Rangers man on target in Clyde victory as St Johnstone miss two penalties
St Johnstone 1
Wilson (61)
Clyde 2
Bradley (30)
Albertz (51)JORG Albertz evoked memories of his successful time with Rangers by producing a wonderful trademark free-kick to help Clyde defeat St Johnstone.
The 37-year-old
, back in Scottish football alongside ex-Ibrox team-mates John Brown, Clyde's manager, and coach Andy Goram, showed that the passing years have not blunted his ability when he slammed home a dead ball on 51 minutes to add to Kevin Bradley's first-half opener.
St Johnstone, bizarrely, missed two penalty kicks – Paul Sheerin and Liam Craig were the culprits – on a night where everything appeared to go wrong for them in front of goal.
Barry Wilson scored a header to set up an exciting finish but Clyde's win was probably deserved on the basis of pluck alone. These three points could prove crucial as the Bully Wee have moved away from the relegation zone and now peer down on Morton and Livingston.
Saints' defending left plenty to be desired and they were made to rue giving Bradley as much space as they did in 30 minutes because he fired an excellent low shot into the bottom corner.
Clyde's lead should only have lasted a minute, with Neil McGregor set to be cast in the role of villain after he shoved David Weatherston inside the box, but Sheerin, normally so deadly from the spot, missed his second consecutive penalty by blasting high over the bar.
After having two efforts blocked in the first-half, Albertz made it third time lucky in the second from 20 yards – smashing a low drive into the bottom corner after Allan McManus fouled Pat Clarke on the edge of the box.
Amazingly, Saints were given another penalty only a minute later – when Steven Milne was fouled by goalkeeper David Hutton – but despite changing takers to Liam Craig they still couldn't get the ball in the net as the keeper made amends for his error with a fine save to his right.
The Perth men finally got the ball into the net on the hour mark when Barry Wilson rose above everyone to nod Craig's corner kick through a ruck of players to halve the deficit. But despite a clear chance for Milne in front of goal, they could not find an equaliser.
St Johnstone: Main, Irvine, Rutkiewicz, McManus, Sheerin (Hardie 87), Wilson, Craig, Cameron (MacDonald 51), Moon, Milne, Weatherston (Anderson 82). Subs not used: Monaghan, Cuthbert.
Clyde: Hutton, McGregor, Higgins, Bestvina, McGowan (MacKay 76), Bradley, Gibson, MacLennan, Clark, Arbuckle (McCusker 82), Albertz (Smith 70). Subs not used: Masterton, Cherrie.
Referee: E Smith. Attendance: 1,686
The full article contains 462 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
