Motherwell finally shook off a brave Clyde effort to get back to winning ways in their Premier Sports group campaign in a hard-fought match in Hamilton.
The top-flight side looked to be on easy street when Moses Ebiye tapped home early on, but a combination of sloppy finishing and some dogged Clyde defending kept the home side right in the contest.
They would have felt they deserved their second half leveller when it came from captain Lee Hamilton after a mix-up in the Motherwell defence, but Lennon Miller was then tripped by home keeper Brian Kinnear and the midfielder moved the Fir Park side back in front.
A brilliant effort from substitute from Filip Stuperevic finally ended the match as a contest late on, but it had been far from a straightforward win for Stuart Kettlewell’s men.
Here are the talking points from Hamilton…
Enigma Ebiye goes from hero to zero
The big striker looks like the epitome of the ‘box of chocolates’ footballer, you just never know what you are going to get.
He has been in good goalscoring form over the summer, and he looked to be on course for another good day here when he tapped Ewan Wilson’s cross home early on to give the Premiership side an early lead. But it went slowly downhill for the Nigerian from that point on.
He missed numerous gilt-edged chances to score a second himself, and really should have set up strike partner Zach Robinson to tap home second in the first half that would have made Motherwell’s day a whole lot easier.
He then put the tin lid on a poor second half showing by giving the ball away at the edge of his own box not once, but twice, allowing Clyde to score an equaliser through skipper Hamilton.
There is a player in there, for sure, but he needs to find some consistency in his finishing if he is going to help Motherwell replace the goals that have left the building with Theo Bair.
Might two up top be the answer for Motherwell?
Speaking of Bair, the big striker was here to cheer on his old teammates following his move to AJ Auxerre this week, and in his absence from Kettlewell’s squad the Motherwell manager decided to mix things up at the top end of the pitch.
He has tended to go with just the one striker in recent times, but he went with a pairing of Ebiye and Robinson here, and there were signs of some potential there despite it also being obvious at other times that the two had never played together before.
It may be an option worth persevering with, with neither Ebiye or Robinson possessing the explosive pace and power that Bair used to run in behind defences for fun last season, but perhaps having enough between them to compensate for his absence.
Stuparevic showed that he too may be a handy option, coming off the bench to finally put the game to bed in the dying moments, curling a fine finish high past Kinnear with his left foot from the edge of the box.
Ewan Wilson the next off the Fir Park conveyor belt?
Another Motherwell player who is having a good summer is youngster Wilson, who has shown some real quality in the left wing-back role.
He got an assist here as he got down the line to cross for Ebiye’s opener, and he caused Clyde right back Jordan Houston all sorts of problems. He was forced to use means both foul and fair in his attempts to stop the young prospect getting away from him, earning a booking in the first half for hauling him down when he had got past him once again.
Wilson spent last season out on loan at Stirling Albion and then Beith Juniors, and Kettlewell has brought in the experienced Steve Seddon this summer too, but the 19-year-old is showing that he may well be ready to step up to the plate.
Clyde look well equipped for a better season
Bully Wee boss Ian McCall will be hugely proud of his side’s efforts here, and more than a little frustrated that they didn’t come away with anything to show for their valiant efforts.
It was a fair old struggle for Clyde in League Two last season, with McCall performing a minor miracle to keep them in the division, but there appears to be plenty of reasons for optimism that this season may be different, and they can look to even push for the playoffs.
There was heart and fight, yes, but there was no little quality too, especially from Jordan Allan up top and Liam Scullion in the midfield. Big Logan Dunnachie caused issues when he came on at the break up top too, and he set up one brilliant chance for Scullion and passed up another himself late on with the score still at 2-1.
It will be a sore one to lose, but there are plenty of reasons for the Clyde support to be hopeful.
Willie Collum watches on as Craig Napier angers home fans
As the new Scottish FA head of refereeing operations knows only too well, referees are never the most popular figures with fans, and the official here drew the ire of the home support on more than a few occasions as Collum watched on from the stand.
In truth, he didn’t get a lot wrong, with the Clyde fans just feeling that the 50/50s were going against them. And he got the game’s big call spot on, awarding a penalty to the visitors when Kinnear came out and tripped Miller, though Clyde were claiming a foul on Dunnachie in the build up.
Collum may have a big job on, but Napier did ok here.
