SPFL Tier 3, Recreation Park, 29/3/25.

A win!

Our first since December. And we lost the first goal. I think the last time we came from behind to win was at Arbroath in October.

They missed a penalty to make it 2-0 though. That would most likely have been game over.

For us Michael Ruth scored with a penalty and then Craig McGuffie embarrassed the keeper with a free-kick which it seems the wind took and he could only palm it into the net.

Then they equalised and that could have been it – or worse – but Mark Durnan popped up with a header from a corner to score the winner.

Strange how a win brightens the mood even if we’re going down.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 1/2/25.

Well. It’s not like us to score early (instead of conceding early) but we did Jinky Hilton doing the honours.

Then we lost an early goal in the second half.

It wasn’t a good day at all what with Annan winning at Kelty.

We’re down at Annan next week. Failure to win there and we’re definitely not going to overcame the 15 point deduction.

SPFL Tier 3, Palmerston Park, 25/1/25.

Another disappointing result though not quite a hammering like last week.

It seems we had a reasonably good first half, Mark Durnan getting the equaliser after our usual loss of an early goal, but the less said about the second half the better.

Alloa at home next up.

SPFL Tier 3, Recreation Park,* 3/12/24.

Not a bad result away against a team in the top four.

Still, after losing an early goal, we managed to turn it round to a 2-1 advantage. Disappointing then to lose the equaliser.

Tony Wallace got our two, the second a penalty.

The worry though was Michael Ruth going off after 39 minutes. I hope it’s not too serious.

Another difficult game coming up on Saturday, at league leaders Stenhousemuir, who seem to have had our number the last four times we played them.

*Indodrill Stadium

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 16/11/24.

A much needed win after a nothing first half in which the only things of note were a great Brett Long sideways leap to prevent QoS’s first away league goal this season, a QoS defender’s attempt to score into his own empty net with a header which their goalie just scrambled off the line and a Michael Ruth effort that just squeezed past. It seemed his (bad) luck in front of goal still continued.

The second half was much better with Sons doing most of the attacking. Jinky Hilton hit the bar and the keeper was lucky it fell into his arms when it came down again after rebounding off the ground. Then Michael Ruth was shoved in the back in the area but it wasn’t given – despite the ref flinging yellow cards about like they were confetti.

Ruthie got his reward about 70 minutes in. That rarity, an early Kalvin Orsi cross, found Finlay Gray whose strike was blocked but fell for Ruthie to bury it. I’m pleased for him. His overall wrok-rate is simply brilliant but I think his rcent lackd of goals had been getting to him.

Then they were awarded a free kick a few yards outside our penalty area. As he lined it up I thought Brett Long  had got his positioning all wrong. So it proved. The up and over duly found the opposite bottom area of the goal. QoS’s first away goal of the league season and to watch them you could understand that stat.

The lads’ heads could have gone down after that but they kept plugging away and we git a series of unfruitful corners as time -up loomed. From the aftermath of one of them Mark Durnan got his foot in the way of the defender’s and the ball and was kicked. So: penalty. From where I sat I hadn’t realised it was in the are until the ref pointed at the spot.

Sub Tony Wallace duly dispatched it, to much rejoicing in the stands.

I hope the win does the boys ‘ confidence some good; our next two games are tough. Both against Alloa, at their place next Saturday in the league then at ours the following Friday in the Cup.

In the Third Round of this year’s Scottish Cup Sons have been drawn at home to Alloa Athletic. To be played on the weekend of 30/11/24.

This is a bit meh as they’re a reasonably familiar opponent and we’ll be playing them three more times in the league too. In fact we’ll meet them twice in a week as we have an away game against them the previous Saturday.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock,* 10/8/24.

Well it looks like we can score (Michael Ruth with a brace and Jinky Hilton doing the honours) but we also need to stop them.

However, this may have been a good point. Alloa finished 3rd in this division last season and we were without Mouhamed Niang in midfield due to his sending-off last week.

It could be a tight division though, with every point a hostage.

*I’m afraid I’ll not be calling it the Marbill Coaches Stadium.

SPFL Tier 3, Recreation Park*, 2/4/22.

What a shock.

We scored. Our first in almost five games.

We scored three.

We won! (For the first time in seven games.) It’s almost certainly too late though.

I “watched” the second half on the BBC Scotland results show. It was 0-0 for so long. All the while Peterhead were in control in their game so our wnning was an absolute must. Then Alloa scored in about 82 minutes. Game over, I thought.

Imagine my surprise when it came up about three minutes later that we’d scored a penalty. Even more so when it was Conner Duthie who scored it. Carsy has been our penalty taker all season. It seems he’d been subbed for Eoghan Stokes though.

Imagine my even greater surprise when Duthie scored again two minutes after that.

However, I just knew they’d equalise. It’s what we do. Not much surprise when it was a pen. Our record of giving them away this season is beyond a joke. 90^th minute it said. At that point I’d have taken a draw even though it was useless to us.

Utter disbelief ensued when I saw Alloa 2-3 Dum on the left upper screen graphic. Then it came up on the videoprinter, scorer Kristoffer Syvertsen. Amazing.

So no goals for over 80 minutes then five in the last ten or so.

It seems from Pie and Bovril we looked like we were playing for a draw for most of the game. Maybe we should try attacking from the start.

Peterhead at home next week. Lose that and it’s ninth at best for us. We have the top two away in the two games following that. Nul points from them I should think.

This game was notable in another way. It’s the first time the Sons have been refereed by a woman, Lorraine Watson to be precise.

*Indodrill Stadium only if you must.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 19/2/22.

Oh dear.

I could say the pitch cost us this. It was in a dreadful state and the winning goal came as a direct result of it when the ball bobbled as loanee goalkeeper Kieran Wright was attempting a clearance from a back pass. The result was a sclaff onto which the Alloa player latched. Despite Kieran forcing him wide (and doing well to avoid conceding a penalty) he managed to score from a very narrow angle. With 7 minutes to go that was us more or less dead.

Alloa, though, were the better team all game, seeming to be able to surmount the conditions and actually pass the ball. They exploited our left a lot and that was where their opener came from.

We came into it towards the end of the first half and the equaliser, a great strike from Paul Paton, was deserved at the time.

I thought that we would keep forcing it in the second half but it was Alloa who started to dominate the game. Even so but for that sclaff it might have been us who stole it. We did pile on pressure near the end with a succession of corners but couldn’t get any efforts on target or through the thicket of defensive bodies.

This is beginning to look very like a relegation season. Incidents like the sclaff tend to happen to doomed teams. Ominously, East Fife have picked up since we beat them.

Peterhead away next Saturday is a must win. A draw will not be enough.

SPFL Tier 3, Broadwood Stadium, 12/2/22.

Well, that was much needed, but by all acoounts Clyde were rubbish.

Still, a win’s a win and not to be sniffed at.

And it was done without big Josh Oyinsan up top. (Pulled hamstring apparently.)

I wasn’t at the game and haven’t seen any higlights yet but it seems Carsy scored from open play! Our other two came from Ross MacLean.

And we’re up to the heady heights of seventh.

Mind you, Peterhead may be two places below us but they’ve got two games in hand.

Next Saturday against Alloa (in eighth) at home is a potential big one.