St Johnstone 2-0 Clyde: Melamed & O'Halloran send top-flight hosts into last eight
- Published
Highlights: St Johnstone 2-0 Clyde
St Johnstone progressed to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals for the second successive season after easing past third-tier Clyde.
First-half finishes from Guy Melamed and Michael O'Halloran were enough for the Premiership hosts, who passed up several chances to extend their lead.
Clyde, who played less than 48 hours prior, toiled throughout but had a strike disallowed after the break.
The Perth side will face Rangers or Celtic in the last eight next weekend.
Given Clyde made eight changes amid a hectic run of fixtures, it was always going to a tough ask for Danny Lennon's men.
And their task got even harder when Melamed poked home O'Halloran's low cross from close range on six minutes.
The Israeli striker should have made it two soon after, but lashed high and wide from the edge of the area.
The top-flight hosts pushed for a second as Jamie McCart and David Wotherspoon tried their luck from distance, but they soon doubled their advantage as Stevie May broke down the left before feeding a ball through to O'Halloran who slotted past Matej Vajs.
The visitors were lucky to go in at the break just two down, as Scott Tanser saw a back-post header saved before McCart had a close-range effort cleared off the line.
Callum Davidson's men came out with the same purpose in the second half. Liam Craig saw two shots saved well by Vajs and Melamed had a header cleared off the line and another crash off the bar.
But Lennon's side were far more organised in the second period and thought they had a goal back when Lewis Jamieson dispossessed Liam Gordon before slotting past Elliot Parish, but the linesman judged there to be an offside in the build-up.
Jamieson then squandered a glorious chance to notch a consolation when Jamie Bain's cross from the right found the forward in the area and his close-range strike was gathered with ease by Parish.
Man of the match - Guy Melamed
The St Johnstone striker (right) showed some great touches throughout and could have had four goals
What did we learn?
Regardless of the opposition, Lennon will be disappointed with the way his team gave away possession in the build-up to a catalogue of St Johnstone chances in the first half.
But Clyde will not be judged on fixtures like this, especially after making eight changes and having to play less than two days after their previous game. Their focus will now be on consolidating their League 1 status.
Davidson also rang the changes, making seven to his side, and he will be encouraged with the sharpness from his fringe players as they dominated and could have helped themselves to far more goals.
What did they say?
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson: "All credit to Clyde, they had a real go in the last 10 to 15 minutes.
"I thought our front three played really well. We're trying to keep [Melamed] but we might not be able to afford it. We're working hard to do it if we can but we might get priced out."
Clyde manager Danny Lennon: "When you look at the goals we conceded they are very disappointing.
"But we grew into the game. We regrouped at half-time and asked the players to get a little bit tighter and we defended well as a team."
What's next?
Both sides return to league action in midweek as Clyde travel to Forfar Athletic on Tuesday (19:45 BST) and St Johnstone host Premiership champions Rangers on Wednesday (19:00).