SPFL Tier 4, The Rock,* 30/8/25.

Like a fortnight ago against Elgin this was a display of the footballing black arts. They were diving and falling over at the slightest hint of contact and the referee was conned by it nearly every time. It’s the sort of thing we need to get wise to and maybe develop ourselves.

Nevertheless this was a result we deserved. We didn’t create anything like enough and I can barely remember an effort on goal barring Ally Roy’s header (straight at the keeper) from a Scott Tomlinson cross. Our goal came from a corner and seems to have been put into his own net by ex-Son Edin Lynch.

Their goals were too easily won, though given the ref’s performance I suppose our players were thinking any sort of tackle would be given as a foul, which indeed their penalty was given as. It didn’t look like much to me but in the box perhaps best avoided.

Despite some signs of Ally Roy and Leighton McIntosh forming a partnership up front, they were living off scraps. We need a creative midfield fast.

*Marbill Coaches Stadium

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock,* 16/08/25.

This was a brutal watch. From the start we were more or less on the back foot. Elgin hit the bar with almost their first foray upfield.

They took the lead half an hour in, the scorer given too much space and rifling it past Shay Kelly. I think their keeper only had to field one ball the whole half, a cross cum shot from Scott Tomlinson.

They were much more streetwise, falling over at any contact – and the ref didn’t see through them. Indeed he gave some baffling decisions all through the game, not least only a yellow card for what was in effect an assault on Dom Docherty who had to leave the pitch after lengthy treatment, nursing his shoulder. They were also time wasting from when they scored until we got the equaliser.

That came after about the only decent move we had all game, Leighton McIntosh getting down the right and crossing for Scott Honeyman to bundle it in. He fell over in the effort, I think it went in off his chest.

They had a succession of corners towards the end and I feared the worst. We also gave away a couple of silly free-kicks (well one of them was the ref being conned again.) The last was just outside the box. Their stepping over routine opened up the wall but Shay Kelly got down magnificently to touch it round the post.

Whatever else this game showed how difficult this season is going to be.

Edited to add: I meant to say it was the first time I’ve seen a goalkeeper penalised under the new eight second rule. Not Shay, the Elgin keeper.

*Marbill Coaches Stadium

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock,* 2/8/25.

So after the phoney war of the League Cup group stage (see Group E) comes the start of the league season.

It somehow seemed right that after the tribulations of last season this should begin with a win but it wasn’t easy. After they scored just before half-time – and then missed a sitter – it was always going to be a tense second half. But we saw it through.

We had only three players in our starting line-up who’d  been with us last season (and one of them, goalie Shay Kelly, only for a couple of months  at that) with one other on the bench. It’s going to take a while for the new ones to gel and we looked that way.

Clyde started brighter but we began to come into it. The turning point came with us getting a corner. Ryan Blair dropped it right onto Clyde keeper (and former Son, Jay Hogarth) who didn’t deal with it and Ally Roy headed it in.

The second was almost a carbon copy. Again Hogarth didn’t deal with the corner and Mark Durnan was credited with putting it in at the far post. On Clyde’s highlights though it looks as if he made no contact as the ball seems to hit the post and go in so it would be Ryan Blair’s goal.

In the second half we sat back too much and so Clyde had a lot of possession. Shay Kelly had two very good saves but apart from that they didn’t really threaten our goal. We had a couple of breakaways where a run of the green would have seen us score but generally we didn’t link up as well as is necessary. That may come.

Morgyn Neill at centre half seemed to really enjoy himself. Big-hearted, throwing himself to get the ball, rousing the crowd.

There were signs of there being a team in us. I hope they come to fruition. I don’t think I can be doing with many games where we’re hanging on like we were here.

*Edited to add: the Rock is now officially the Marbill Coaches Stadium.

Dumbarton Football Club yesterday announced that the takeover of the club by Canadian businessman Mario Lapointe has been confirmed by the administrators.

The club is therefore out of administration, much to the relief of Sons fans everywhere, who can now look forward to the new season with a degree of optimism.

There is still the matter of the five point deduction in the second season following administration to be overcome, though.

Sons’ games in the League Cup (Premier Sports Cup) have been scheduled for:-

Tuesday July 15 – Stirling Albion (H) 19:45

Saturday 19 July – Dunfermline Athletic (H) 15:00

Wednesday 23 July – Hearts (A) – 19:45

Saturday 26 July – Hamilton (A) – 15:00

According to the club’s website we have been drawn against Hearts, Dunfermline Athletic, Hamilton Academical and Stirling Albion in this year’s League Cup (aka the Premier Sports Cup.)

Ties are to be played during July starting on July 12/13^th and finishing on July 26/27^th.

The administrators of Dumbarton FC have announced they have agreed terms of a deal to sell the club to a “Canadian entrepeneur and business owner,” Mario Lapointe, who “has a passion for sport, particularly football.”

From comments on Pie and Bovril on this page it seems the club’s history and iconic location played a large part in Mr Lapointe’s decision to invest in the club.

He also seems to have no illusions  about the club’s present place in the Scottish football landscape and its likely future one.

His main saving grace though is that he doesn’t appear to be interested in selling the ground for housing.

SPFL Tier 3, Ochilview, 3/5/25.

And so an utter car crash of a season comes to an end.

They were the better team, shifted the ball about well and scored early on. We didn’t start to come into it till later in the first half.

We got back into it from a corner nodded on by Mark Durnan to Matthew Shiels whose shot wasn’t cleared by their defence and ended up in the net. It was difficult to tell exactly what happened as we Sons fans were in the enclosure at the opposite end of the pitch.

Their second was hard luck on Shay Kelly in goal as he made a great point-blank save from the first effort but the rebound was put in off the post. (The guy almost put it past which would have been a shocking miss.)

So who knows how many of these players we will see again in a Sons shirt? Not Michael Ruth I would wager. He would provbably deserve a place in a Tier 2 team. Player of the year Mouhamed Niang might also be off. So might they all to be fair.

The deal for the Sons to be taken out of administration has fallen through “due to ill health.” (The article in the link is behind a pay wall.)

The administrators will now be talking to other possible buyers but presumably these won’t be proposing to pay the creditors in full, which makes resolving things more difficult.

We can only hope that there will be a successful bidder and that they will have the interests of the club at heart rather than building houses.

Edited to add:- The club website says the other bidders are understood to be football orientated which sounds promising. (The link also has a great pic of the stadium.)

SPFL Tier  3, The Rock, 26/4/25.

The last home game of the season and an entertaining one.

Annan had the best of the opening twenty or so minutes but really only created one opportunity. It was a golden one though but loanee keeper Shay Kelly pulled off an incredible point-blank save. I still don’t know how he did it.

Then we got a free-kick reasonably far out from which I wasn’t expecting much but Ryan Blair beat the keeper with a shot at a fairly savable height I thought but which squeezed in close to the post.

One-nil at half time and soon Annan’s task got more difficult when a second yellow card was shown to one of their defenders. from where I was it looked as if his slip had simply caused Michael Ruth to fall over him but the ref signalled it was a trip.

Annan then brought on sub Tommy Goss. At 6 feet 4 inches he towerd over everybody else on the park. Not good when we were playing with a makeshift centre back pairing neither of whom are centre backs. (Curiously the same was true of Annan’s line-up. No centre backs playing at centre back on either side is surely an extremely rare phenomenon.) Goss began winning balls in the air bringing out another superb save from Shay Kelly but their forward blazed the rebound over when it was surely easier to score. Goss then converted a corner and Annan looked more likely to win the game – which they had to if they had any hope sof avoding the relegaton play-off spot.

A few minutes we had a pitch invasion. No, not really, but the crowd did end up on the pitch. A fire alarm had gone off in the stadium and the game had to be suspended.

That turned out to be the turning point. After the restart we scored twice in quick succession. Firstly Tony Wallace was played in by fellow sub Joel Mumbongo but he took what felt like an age in beating the same defender twice before finally planting the ball in the net. Also Mouhamed Niang was put on Goss at set pieces after which Annan seemed to stop trying to find him.

Two minutes later another quick break saw Finlay Gray play the ball across the box. Joel Mumbongo perhaps ought to have scored but seemed to miss the ball. However he mananged to confuse the keeper who then failed to stop the ball reaching another sub Jinky Hilton who put it away.

Things were not over. They were given a penalty and Shay Kelly took his good time getting into place going behind the goal line and seeming to aplly something to his gloves, time-wasting for which he was given a yellow card. His ….housery worked, though, as he got down well to save the shot from Goss. Man of the match for me.

The home season ended on a playing high, then. Only Stenhousemuir away next week before a season unforgettable for all the wrong reasons is over.

Will we still be around for the next one though? An owner whose only interest in the club is as a site for housebuilding might well pull the plug. Fans are powerless in this regard.