Ally Love became infamous this season.

The 27-year-old Clyde player served a five-game ban earlier this campaign after racially abusing Annan midfielder Rabin Omar in a festive fixture at Broadwood. It was an ugly episode that left an indelible mark on both players – Omar later offered public forgiveness to Love – but quite what his thoughts might have been on Saturday afternoon would have been interesting as Clyde sealed promotion to League One.

Love netted an 86th minute penalty to overturn Annan’s first leg win and, added to Martin McNiff’s goal on the hour mark, gave Clyde an escape after languishing in the bottom tier of Scottish football for nine seasons.

That Love was around to play a part in the victory was perhaps as much of a surprise to himself as it was to anyone else.

“I don’t want to say too much but it has been hard and I have had some tough times, times when your head is down and you think about chucking it,” he said. “That’s how bad it got at times. I dug in and stuck with it and we have got our rewards.

“The manager gave me the belief and getting my head right and getting me back into it.”

And Love rubbed further salt in Annan's wounds on Saturday night when he revealed that the incentive for Clyde's performance came from the manner of the premature celebrations from the home dressing room last Tuesday night after the first leg of the tie.

“They had the music up blaring on Tuesday night and few of them were chirpy but we have done the business today," said Love. "We had four points deducted [earlier in the season for fielding an ineligible player] and everyone would have written us off.

“We deserve it. When we got in at half-time some of the boys were frustrated because we hadn’t created too many clear cut chances but we deserve it.”

Annan were irked at Love for his part in the penalty which snatched promotion out of their hands, with manager Peter Murphy insisting that such was the lack of any incident that neither the Clyde players nor management appealed for the decision.

Referee Bobby Madden gave the award and Love, inevitably, maintained after the game that it was the right call.

“I actually went to head it,” he said. “I got nothing on it but Steve [Swinglehurst] has pushed me. I was just at the backpost and glanced it too much and I didn’t get enough on it. I should score but as I’ve went to head it I’ve put too much on it and big Steve has pushed me. I went down and Bobby has given the penalty. If he hasn’t touched me, I’ll score.

“And once David Goodwillie was off the park, there was no-one else taking it. There was no chance anyone was taking that ball off me. I just kept telling myself to score. I knew right away that I was lacing it down through the middle. I don’t that in the play-off against Alloa a couple of seasons ago, just straight down the middle. I wasn’t taking a chance of putting it another way or reversing it and the keeper guessing the right way.

“I always think I can score.

“We were on the front foot. We were in the ascendancy although we didn’t make too much clear cut chances.

“One thing I can say is it is the best group I have played with. The togetherness is absolutely tremendous. It is the biggest thing I have achieved in my career, especially because of what I have come through since I came to Clyde.”