Duffy praises his Clyde battlers

TWO games, two league favourites, four goals, four points.

On June 17, when the fixtures for this season were released, Clyde boss Jim Duffy didn’t hold out much hope that his team would be racking up the points early on.

An opening day visit to Broadwood by favourites Peterhead, followed by a trip to Recreation Park to face narrow second favourites Alloa, wasn’t exactly what The Bully Wee were hoping for.

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However, having put The Blue Toon to the sword with a 2-0 victory on August 6, Clyde stung The Wasps with an 80th minute equaliser from the spot on Saturday, to earn a two-all draw and take a point home to Cumbernauld.

Duffy said: “I probably didn’t expect us to take four points from these two games before the season started.

“We’ve not been together very long at all, and it’s pretty much an entirely new team.

“We’re still in the early stages and in the process of learning about each other and ourselves.

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“Obviously playing the two favourites so soon makes it a very difficult start, but the players have been different class.

“Maybe the fact the two teams have been so big has helped us to raise our game. But that’s a credit to the players, they’ve shown what they are capable of.”

John Sweeney scored his third and fourth goals of the season at the weekend, including his second long range effort in two weeks.

Duffy reserved special praise for his midfield maestro, but expressed his joy at the work rate shown by all of his players.

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He continued: “John’s contribution has been extremely important and I have to say we have been pleasantly surprised by the goals he’s scored, we didn’t know he had it in his locker to score from there.

“When you add that to his overall work ethic, he has done very well.

“But I was absolutely delighted with the whole performance, all of the players worked extremely hard and played very well.

“I though we showed excellent resilience and kept at it, even when we went a goal down.

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“The ball moves more quickly on the artificial surface and I think we created an unbelievable amount of chances.”

Clyde’s next challenge is a home tie against Montrose this Saturday. “They won three-nil against Elgin on Saturday,” Duffy said. “That’s a terrific result. This is the most competitive of all the leagues in Scotland.

“I’m sure Montrose will come into the match with confidence, but if we work the way we have been, and continue to create chances, we can compete with anyone.”