“Yes there were some tough challenges, but what do people expect?” said Graham Roberts, the Clyde manager. “It’s a local derby. You can’t go about like pansies.” Sandy Stewart, his Airdrie counterpart, insisted: “The supporters certainly got their money’s worth today.”
It was the home side who fashioned a lead on 11 minutes as a sweeping, four-man move ended with Bryan Prunty surging into the box and arrowing a powerful drive into the net.
Clyde’s 23rd-minute equaliser, however, was all about individual flair. Picking up the ball just inside the Airdrie half, Tom Brighton glided past Martin Hardie during a rousing surge and, having rounded the goalkeeper, lofted his left-footed effort high into the net from an acute angle.
Chances, like the number of bookings, kept mounting but Peter Cherrie and Stephen Robertson continued to excel in their respective goals.
After a series of fearsome challenges, a sending-off inevitably occurred when Clyde’s Craig McKeown saw red for a second bookable offence with seven minutes left. Airdrie’s Stephen McKeown followed in the dying seconds. It was, perhaps, a fitting end to a bruising encounter.
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STAR MAN: Peter Cherrie (Clyde)
Player ratings. Airdrie: Robertson 7, McKenna 6, Dunn 6, Hardie 6, Lovering 6, Holmes 6, Coyle 6 (McDougall 75min, 4), S McKeown 6, Prunty 7, McPhee 6 (Twigg 77min, 4), McLaren 6
Clyde: Cherrie 7, McGregor 6, Malone 6, Higgins 6, C McKeown 6, Harris 5 (Hunter 82min, 4), Bryson 5, O’Donnell 6, Williams 6 (Arbuckle 77min, 4), Brighton 7, McGowan 6 (Miller 74min, 4)
Scorers: Airdrie: Prunty 11
Clyde: Brighton 23
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Booked: Malone 24, McPhee 29, S McKeown 42, Holmes 55, Coyle 57, Hardie 59, C McKeown 63
Sent off: C McKeown 83, S McKeown 90
Referee: D McDonald
Attendance: 1,623