Clyde 5-3 Alloa [aet] (agg 6-5)

May 4 2008 Alan Mcmillan At Broadwood

RELIEVED John Brown paid tribute to veteran Gary McSwegan for rescuing Clyde from the brink of the drop.

His men were trailing 5-2 on aggregate and staring at a play-off defeat - but the sprightly 37-year-old sub turned the tide.

And as the tie went in to extra time McSweg set up Pat Clarke for a 111th-minute winner that takes them into the play-off final against Airdrie.

Brown reckons the former Scotland hitman, who scored goal No.4, showed all his experience to rescue Clyde in the two-hour battle with Alloa.

He said: "Gary made a big difference. Maybe he can't get about the pitch like he used to but he holds up the ball well and has a good touch.

"For the extra-time goal anyone else would have had a shot - but he saw a way to set up Pat to score."

Brown admitted though he thought all hope had gone after watching his men collapse against the Second Division underdogs.

He said: "At 3-1 down you're think it's all over but the boys showed tremendous spirit to come back. Now I'll get them rested for Airdrie."

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg the onus was on Clyde to take the initiative.

And they settled quickly with Billy Gibson, Kevin Bradley and Jimmy Gibson all testing Wasps keeper Raymond Jellema while Steve Masterton's inswinging corners kept the defence on their toes.

Bradley's pace on the leftwas a threat and Brown Ferguson was booked for halting the wide man's progress.

Masterton's 25-yard free-kick was deflected wide with Jellema scrambling along his line.

However, the corner led to Clyde's 29th-minute opener.

Masterton provided another excellent delivery and Jimmy Gibson scored with a powerful downward header.

Alloa replied through a John Grant header that back-pedalling keeper David Hutton touched on to the bar and over.

But Clyde looked dangerous every time they won a corner and Jellema did well to push over a Dusan Bestvina header from another Masterton flag-kick.

Alloa scored a controversial equaliser in the 40th minute.

Ferguson's 30-yarder hit the underside of the bar then appeared to bounce over the line before coming back out.

Neither ref Mike Tumilty nor his linesmen seemed to have a clue what happened - but the whistler gave the goal anyway.

Two minutes later Alloa scored again. Fraser Forrest got a nick on Derek Fleming's curling freekick to beat helpless Hutton.

With just 45 minutes to save their First Division status Clyde sent on McSwegan for Bradley.

But within a minute of the restart they trailed 3-1 after a comedy of errors at the back.

Masterton's poor headed backpass caused chaos and Bestvina knocked the ball into his own net as he tried to clear.

But the Clyde fightback began in 64 minutes as Gary Arbuckle fastened on to a through-ball by McSwegan and knocked home.

Four minutes later it was 3-3.

Clarke headed across goal for Billy Gibson to nod into the net.

In the 84th minute Clyde tied matters on aggregate as McSwegan headed home Masterton's corner.

And Clarke's tap-in in 111 minutes finally separated the sides.

Emotional Alloa boss Allan Maitland said: "I'm proud of my boys but there's nothing I can say that will make them feel better."