They were forced to come from behind after Kyle Connell broke the deadlock for the home side, but they fully merited a triumph which was delivered by a fine Josh Gentles strike and a first Under-19s goal for wing-back Ashton Patton.
It improves the side’s outlook in the competition ahead of their final two fixtures, with the young Gers now sitting on six points after their earlier victory in the league phase over Gala Fairydean Rovers.
They make the trip to Queen of the South on Saturday evening, live on Premier Sports, with qualification for the knockout stages very much in their sights.
It was a considerably less experienced outfit for the young Gers in Hamilton owing to the set of international absences, while Lewis Stewart, one of the side’s hitherto strongest performers in this competition, wasn’t involved.
There were starts for the 16-year-old duo of Luca Rankin and Kyle Glasgow, with the latter on the scoresheet once again for Alloa Athletic at the weekend.
Clyde are flying high in their respective division this season – albeit results have been harder to come by in this competition – and they set out their stall early with a couple of efforts from Nathan Cannon which were dragged wide of Sam Reid’s goal.
Ashton Patton, who only made his first Under-19s appearance against Hibernian in league action earlier this month, then showed tremendous persistence on the byline before laying the ball inside to Ben Hutton, whose delivery was collected by Jay Hogarth.
But it was the hosts who struck first blood in the contest when they did well to fashion a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. Kyle Connell assumed duties and placed an excellent finish around the wall and into the far corner.
To the Gers’ credit, the concession of the opener sprung an added layer of purpose.
Firstly, Josh Gentles showed terrific hold-up play before bringing Zebedee Lawson into play, with the Englishman forcing a fingertip save from Hogarth with a low, curling effort.
Moments later, Gentles was teed up after a smart run from Kyle Glasgow before watching a curling effort of his own come back off the far post and away to safety.
And Gentles, who registered his first goal involvement for Airdrieonians at the weekend, was soon rewarded for his endeavour when he struck the leveller in fine fashion just ten minutes before the interval.
Rangers had plenty of bodies in a central area as they continued to pose Clyde problems, and when the Welsh youth international was teed up by Zander Hutton, wearing the captain’s armband this evening, his thunderous effort from 25 yards out was too powerful for Hogarth between the posts.
The away side were certainly the team in the ascendancy as Patton stung the palms of Hogarth with a fizzing half-volley from the edge of the penalty area.
Clyde pieced together a decent move to open the second period when Timam Scott advanced down the right-hand side and squared across to Marley Redfern at the far post, but the Clyde man was leaning back when he lifted his first-time effort over the top.
Down the opposite end, Rangers could have completed the turnaround on 55 minutes when they cut the hosts open with an excellent sweeping move.
Play was spread right towards Patton, whose reverse pass inside to the marauding Ben Hutton saw the midfielder tee up Gentles and the forward wasn’t too far away with his left-footed finish from inside the penalty box.
The hour-mark soon struck, and with it came a second goal for the Gers.
Few could deny their superiority in the contest, and it was a well-worked move from back-to-front starting with Ben Hutton which released Gentles beyond the Clyde defence.
He had a defender for company, but in keeping with his excellent individual display, he had the presence of mind to produce a clever flick into the path of Patton, who steadied himself inside the penalty area before planting a clever finish beyond Hogarth.
The hosts were left with an uphill task with 23 minutes remaining when Jamie Bradley was shown a straight red card for lashing out at Patton off-the-ball.
Rangers almost capitalised immediately when a delicious clipped pass from Zander Hutton into the path of Luca Rankin saw the midfielder flash a left-footed volley from a tight angle just wide of the target.
Despite the man disadvantage, Clyde threw everything at the Gers in the dying embers, but the young side stood strong amid a terrific Sam Reid save at full-stretch to seal a priceless three points.
RANGERS: Reid, Patton (Young, 88), Kerr, Owen, Wyllie, Z. Hutton, Rankin, B. Hutton, Glasgow (Christie, 73), Lawson (Fernie, 84), Gentles
Subs not used: Thackray, Caldwell, Ramage, Wark, Molloy, Owoyomi
CLYDE: Hogarth, Hynes (Rooney, 79), Howie (Campbell, 21), Dunachie, Lovering, Bradley, Fleming, Scott (Kiltie, 68), Connell (Cruden, 68), Redfern, Cannon (Strachan, 68)
Subs not used: Terry, Cuddihy
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