SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 20/4/21.

Dumbarton nil again.

But we looked fairly lively in the first half.

Unfortunately we lost Nat Wedderburn and Sam Wardrop* to injury before half time and the team’s balance was upset.

Couple that with Thistle upping the tempo in the second half and we were under the cosh for most of it.

We had Sam Ramsbottom to thank for not losing by more. He had two very good saves and another where Thistle claimed the ball had gone over the line but he scrambled it clear.

Their first came immediately after our best chance of the game when Adam Frizzell wriggled past three of their players on the edge of the box, shot hard but their keeper was very well positioned. From his clearance they scored and it was game over.

I thought Ross Forbes was poor on the set pieces tonight.

Four games to save the season.

Unless we can score that won’t happen.

*Sam took an elbow to the face but their guy only got a yellow card. If he’d been sent off we’d have had a man advantage for the second half. (Water; bridge.)

Scottish Cup,* Third Round, The Rock, 23/11/19.

Well, we’re through. This was an odd game though.

After a fairly even start we scored after a neat move culminated in Isaac Layne passing to Adam Frizzell who still had a lot to do, beating a man before shooting. It appeared to deflect a little but still it seemed the keeper might have done better.

We immediately fell out of it, surrendering the midfield and allowing Forfar to flood forward. Consequently it wasn’t a surprise that they equalised but it was a shocking goal to lose, as nobody seemed to put in a challenge before the cross which was headed out to a Forfar player totally unmarked on the edge of the box. His curled shot was just watched into the net by everybody.

Despite Forfar having most of the game they didn’t actually force Connor Brennan in goal into any saves after that except for dealing with crosses and the like. (I use ‘dealing with’ in the widest sense as in one case he palmed the ball out almost straight to a Forfar player who thankfully didn’t make the most of it.)

In what seemed like our first foray up the field in a long time we won a corner. Stefan McCluskey swept in the corner for Ryan McGeever to power a header into the bottom corner.

It was soon all over as the most Route One goal you’ll ever see came when their centre half misjudged a Connor Brennan kick-out and Isaac Layne latched onto the ball to drive it past the advancing keeper.

At 1-1 I was dreading them scoring as we could really do with them not getting the confidence boost a win could have brought. The way we played today I doubt we’d have got back in the game. Unfortunately Stranraer achieved just that likely boost against Dunfermline today. Let’s hope that it’s short-lived.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be too harsh as we were missing the influential Joe McKee today. His general play and delivery from crosses and set-pieces is a big asset. Also out was Rhegan Tumilty, I assume because his parent club doesn’t want him cup-tied.

*William Hill Scottish Cup