Second Division: Brown out the door at Clyde after latest defeat

Published on Sunday 22 November 2009 23:17

EAST Fife ensured Clyde stayed bottom of the table with their 3-1 win at Broadwood and it marked the end of the line for Rangers legend John Brown after 21 months at the helm of the Cumbernauld club.

The Bully Wee fans have been leading a protest against their manager for several months now and the club finally bowed to pressure with an announcement verifying his departure. "Clyde can confirm that John Brown has left his position as manager. The club will release further details in the coming days."

John McCormack, who was brought in to assist Brown two months ago, and who recently lost out on the Arbroath manager's position to Jim Weir, has been widely tipped to take over the manager's position.

The final nails in Brown's coffin came when Paul McManus shot the Fifers ahead early with Clyde drawing level when Willie Sawyers converted a 55th-minute penalty after Steven Howarth had been fouled. McManus restored the visitors' lead midway through the second period, before Bobby Linn scored a solo effort ten minutes from time.

Brown did attend the after-match press conference, restricting questions to the game and admitting he had been disappointed by his side's defending saying: "There was some stupid defending out there and we paid the price."

New Bayview assistant Scott Crabbe praised McManus saying: "Paul was brilliant. He has added a lot to his game with the way he now holds the ball up while still having a great ability to score goals."

There was drama at the top of the table, too, with leaders Cowdenbeath forcing an injury-time equaliser in the 2-2 draw against ten-man Stirling Albion.

The Blue Brazil's Gareth Wardlaw headed in a Dene Droudge cross in 11 minutes and all three points looked to be Fife bound when home striker Martin Grehan was dismissed with just 15 minutes to go after picking up his second yellow card.

Albion roared back and Ross Forsyth netted a penalty after David O'Brien had been fouled with substitute David McKenna looking to have pulled off a famous win when he chipped over David Hay just three minutes from time. Central Park substitute John Ferguson slid in an equaliser two minutes into added time to keep Danny Lennon's men top.

Third-placed Brechin City are on an unbeaten run of six games, although manager Jim Duffy will not be getting too excited about it as their last five results have all been draws, with the latest even scoreline coming at Ochilview where the match with Stenhousemuir ended 1-1. Rory McAllister headed Brechin in front just before the half hour mark, only for Kevin Motion to net a penalty after Paul McLean was judged to have handled before the break.

The match between Arbroath and Alloa at Gayfield was called off because of traffic problems on the A90 in the wake of a fatal crash on Friday, while Dumbarton's home clash with Peterhead fell prey to a waterlogged pitch.