Saints were pinned back for the opening 20 minutes as Clyde tried to steal the points that would see them leapfrog Saints to go clear in fourth spot.
Neil McGregor's yellow card after only 20 seconds was an early indication that the visitors were less concerned with discipline than with getting a result.
Saints' Jason Scotland looked decidedly jet-lagged after being on long distance World Cup qualifying duty in midweek.
His one moment of first-half trickery put Ryan McCann into a clear shooting position but the midfielder's effort was too weak to trouble Peter Cherrie in the Clyde goal.
The game was marred by petty fouling, poor passing and feeble finishing.
Having said that the second half had some talking points. There was a huge shout for a penalty when it looked like Scotland had been hauled down from behind by young Robert Harris.
Referee Callum Murray was just about the only person in the stadium who saw things differently as he waved play on much to the amazement of the punters.
Stephen Dobbie had a chance to take all three points with two minutes to go but both that chance and Scotland's 90th minute effort - like the entire game - failed to deliver.