Queen’s Park versus Clyde in a showpiece occasion at the national stadium? This was such a blast from a nostalgic past they should have been dishing out sepia-tinted specs at the turnstiles. That big fiery orb in the sky shone down on Hampden and it was Queen’s Park who enjoyed their day in the sun as they earned promotion to League One after seven seasons in the bottom tier.
Clyde, by virtue of Scott Linton’s first half penalty, claimed the honours on the afternoon but they couldn’t entangle themselves from the Spiders’s web they found themselves in after losing the first leg 3-1.
Beaten in last year’s play-off final, and involved in the end-of-season scramble in five of the past six years, this was a just reward for Queen’s Park’s sturdy resolve.
“This is a day the boys will never forget,” said Gus MacPherson, the Queen’s Park manager. “I got promotion with St Mirren and getting up was a breeze, it was staying in the top flight that was the biggest achievement of my career. This is a close second to that. It’s been a tough but enjoyable campaign. This club’s record of getting in the play-offs is fantastic and I don’t think anyone would grudge us getting to the next level.”
The hosts were rampant from the first whistle and were clearly intent on finishing this one off before the tea urn had been filled for the half-time whistle wetters. David Galt burst through with barely 50 seconds on the clock and arrowed in a shot which was deflected wide before Paul Woods gave the Clyde defenders more palpitations with a couple of threatening efforts.
Queen’s Park’s early salvos had certainly unsettled Barry Ferguson, the Clyde manager, as he paced and gesticulated around his technical area and probably risked a ticking off from the Hampden agronomist for wearing the turf down with his worried wanderings.
Clyde desperately needed to gain a foothold in the game and John Gemmell almost gave them something to build on when he met David Brisbane’s cross only for his header to drop on to the roof of the net. The visitors were given a helping hand in their bid to haul themselves into affairs just after the half hour, though. With William Muir, the Queen’s Park keeper, flapping about from a corner, Gemmell’s nod came off the hand of Vinnie Berry. Linton plonked a tidy penalty into the bottom corner and Clyde were right back in the thick of it as they trotted off for the interval.
Within five minutes of the re-start they were almost back out if it again. Galt nipped to the byline and with his low cross begging to be battered in, Brisbane somehow managed to hook the ball to safety from under his own bar. From the resulting corner, Bryan Wharton’s header was parried by John Gibson and Ryan McGeever’s follow up attempt with the napper sailed over.
Queen’s Park had reasserted themselves on proceedings and Clyde’s task got tougher when Michael Bolochoweckyj was given his marching orders on 73 minutes for a second bookable offence.
Clyde went on the offensive though as things started to slip away from them and David Gormley’s raking drive brought a fine save out of Muir as they tried, in vain, to salvage the tie.
“I’ve had a few disappointments in my day,” added Ferguson, who also enjoyed numerous Hampden highs with Rangers and Scotland down the years. “I can’t fault the effort of the players but we just lacked that bit of quality.”
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