Clyde: Martin McNiff says side should not have been in League Two
- Published
Martin McNiff opened the scoring for Clyde in their play-off final victory
Clyde should never have been in League Two and have the facilities of a top-tier club, says defender Martin McNiff.
The Cumbernauld side ended a nine-year stay in the bottom tier by edging past Annan Athletic 2-1 on aggregate in the League One play-off final.
Full-back McNiff's scored the first in Saturday's 2-0 second-leg win to take his tally to the season for 11.
"Coming here, you knew they shouldn't be in this league," he said of facing Clyde when he was an Annan player.
"When you look at the stadium, it is Championship standard, even Premiership."
Clyde were vying with Peterhead for the League Two title and automatic promotion until the final match of the regular season, despite being docked four points in March for fielding an ineligible player.
McNiff's 60th-minute strike was added to four minutes from time by former Annan team-mate Ally Love, who assumed the penalty honours in the absence of injured fellow striker David Goodwillie.
And the defender, who works for a bank, had a little extra motivation against his former club after being told he could have time off if Clyde triumphed.
"I had to work hard to get this week off," he said. "They told me that, if we won today, I would have next week off to go away with the boys to Spain."
Winning mentality, terrific engines and bravery
Ally Love scored the winning penalty for Danny Lennon's side
Manager Danny Lennon said he was "absolutely thrilled and a very proud man" afterwards and agreed that the nine-year stint in the bottom tier had been "far too long for a club with a proud history".
The former St Mirren boss praised his players for a "winning mentality" that had enabled them to come from behind in a number of matches this season to win.
And he also lauded McNiff for the way he had adapted to his attacking full-back role. "Martin is such a big influence in both boxes," he said. "He's got a terrific engine on him.
"When I first came to the club, Martin played centre-back, but we saw qualities in Martin that you wanted him in both boxes and the amount of goals he's returned this season I believe is a club record.
"That's a fantastic individual achievement for Martin and his goals have been so important and it was very fitting he got a goal against Annan."