If you were a betting man, what looked the surest wager of the day appeared to be league leaders St Johnstone taking full points from Clyde on their visit to Cumbernauld. However, we all know that things have a habit of never working out quite as planned.

If you were a betting man, what looked the surest wager of the day appeared to be league leaders St Johnstone taking full points from Clyde on their visit to Cumbernauld. However, we all know that things have a habit of never working out quite as planned.

Clyde, who have been having a tough time of it recently, were expected to offer little resistance to Derek McInnes's men, who have not lost since, ironically, going down 3-2 at home to the Broadwood side back in August, a run that has taken the Perth side to the top of the table while the Lanarkshire team currently prop up the division.

Clyde started the upset by taking the lead on 17 minutes when Pat Clarke stooped to head home a cross from Dave McKay, but parity was restored within two minutes when Alan Lithgow downed Stevie Milne inside the penalty area and Liam Craig levelled confidently from the spot.

All seemed to be going to plan when Kevin Rutkiewicz gave St Johnstone a deserved lead just after the hour mark, heading home powerfully from a corner on the right by Craig, but there was to be a sting in the tail for the visitors, who looked to be cruising to a seventh successive victory.

There seemed to be no real danger when Willie McLaren played a speculative effort into the area with just five minutes of the match remaining.

However, Craig, normally so reliable in situations such as these, seemed to stumble as he attempted to clear his lines, and the ball fell to Clarke, who dispatched a low shot past Alan Main to steal an unlikely point for the home side.

John Brown, the Clyde manager, was delighted with the performance of his side. He said: "I was really pleased with the attitude my players showed. That was a massive point for us and gives us confidence going into what will be a very tough game away to Queen of the South next week.

"We are starting to get players back and another one or two are not that far away, either. Once we get all these boys back then I think results will start to come our way."

McInnes admitted that he was surprised to drop two points, saying: "I never saw that result coming, to be honest. It just shows you that this game can boot you in the guts when you're least expecting it."