SPFL Tier 3 Play-off, Semi-Final, Second Leg, The Rock, 7/5/22.

We needed an early goal to have any hope of putting the wind up them. Needless to say it wasn’t forthcoming.

The first half was pretty much nothing. And, criminally, no urgency on our part .

A quadruple substitution early in the second half brightened us up and brought a goal from a Kalvin Orsi cross and Kris Syvertsen’s head.

The great comeback on?

No. This is Dumbarton, vintage 2022.

It would only ever have taken one goal to down us. And it did. Three minutes after ours. Our defence parted like theatre curtains. No-one put in a challenge to stop their player getting his shot away.

Mind you, it had been coming. They had had several efforts on target thwarted by Kieran Wright or else squandered.

But the damage had been done in the first leg – and all through the season.

So our centenary year will be spent in the bottom tier of the top league in Scotland.

Even if that’s been our natural habitat for most of my life there’s now an air of doom about the club that has never been there before. The murkiness of the club’s ownership is a constant threat and contributed greatly to our recent woes.

I dread to think where we’ll spend the season after next.

If we still exist.

Expletive deleted.

SPFL Tier 3 Play-off, Semi-Final, First Leg, Ainslie Park, 03/05/22.

Calamity.

Shambles.

Disgrace.

Choose your own noun.

Whichever, this was a come-uppance that has been coming all season.

We weren’t the worse team in the first half; indeed we had several opportunities to put in good crosses, notably from Ross MacLean, but the delivery was never acceptable enough except when Conner Duthie put one over for Josh Oyinsan to head. Josh’s angle was slightly wrong and the ball just cleared the bar. That would have made it 1-1 and might have changed the game.

But our perennial ability to shoot ourselves in the foot manifested itself when George Stanger underhit a back-pass and Kieran Wright couldn’t prevent the forward getting past him to be presented with an open goal.

Their second was also an abject disaster, a corner somehow not being cleared and the ball going in off Gregor Buchanan. At that point any thought of winning this tie all but disappeared.

Mind you, if we had approached the start of the first half the way we did the second things might have been different. For the first twenty minutes we were all over them, creating space down the flanks and getting crosses in. It was two odd substitutions though with Kris Syvertsen who had looked as if he might create something and big Josh (who admittedly wasn’t at his best) being replaced by Kalvin Orsi and Callum Wilson. At this point Paul Paton was bossing the game from the base of midfield and it was his cross that was looped over the keeper from the edge of the box for our goal. Young Callum did his best, twisting and turning past defenders several times, but nobody was able to be calm enough to finish off his work.

Their third killed it. Another defensive mix-up and a reasonable save from Keiran Wright was followed by a failure to clear the ball which fell to a guy who couldn’t miss.

At 2-1 and with us on top there was the possibility of getting an equaliser but that goal knocked us back. 3-1 was always going to be a different prospect.

The final nail in the coffin with minutes to go – another short pass back latched on to by the home attack – just completed the humiliation.

The thought of watching the second leg was by then almost unbearable.

So; unless some sort of miracle happens on Saturday we now know where we’ll be playing next season; Tier 4.

Who knows where we’ll be the season after that?

The club is in deep trouble on and off the park. It’s its 150^th anniversary later this year. What a sorry state it’s in to greet that.

Profound change is required.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 11/9/21.

Wow!

What a contrast to the last few seasons.

This was our biggest league win for ten years. (Curiously that one was also against East Fife, 6-0 at their place in our last promotion season.)

Mind you there wasn’t much sign of it in the early stages where both teams didn’t threaten much. But then we got a free-kick which was flighted in by Connor Duthie and headed towards goal by Ryan McGeever. It looked to be going wide but ex-Son Scott Gallacher in the Fife goal palmed it out straight to Ross MacLean who gleefully stuck it away.

For a spell towards the end of the half East Fife had a lot of possession but their best – their only – chance came from a free-kick. Sam Ramsbottam looked beaten but the ball crashed off the bar and out.

Just before half-time a Callum Wilson corner saw Gregor Buchanan get a free header yards out. 2-0.

Things meandered round for a bit second half but we put the game to bed when another Callum Wilson delivery was met by Buchanan again despite the attentions of the defence.

Two more goals from set-pieces gave the result a welcome gloss, Ryan McGeever was left all alone in the box to put away Kalvin Orsi’s knock-back from a long corner before Eoghan Stokes headed in from a beautiful delivery from fellow sub Joe McKee following a short corner to him.

If you can be churlish about a five-nil victory here comes the churl. We didn’t score from open play. Indeed we didn’t create a chance from open play except for Ross MacLean’s dribble and shot from a narrow angle which hit the post.

That’s curmudgeonly though. It was such a delight to watch a Sons second half performance with absolutely no trepidation.

They won’t all be like this though.

Falkirk away next week. I never thought we’d be heading there next Saturday above them in the table. (Even if it is only on goal difference.)

SPFL Tier 3, Links Park, 28/8/21.

This is turning into an interesting season.

I had mentally written this one off. An away game against the (previously unbeaten) league leaders at a ground we’ve not done well at in recent times?

But we went two up (one of them from Kalvin Orsi – maybe he is a centre forward after all) and eventually held out for the win despite a late penalty for them.

I can’t remember when we last beat the league leaders on their own patch.

At the minute there’s not much between the teams in mid table and those at the top and bottom.

There’s a fortnight to wait for the next game though. That ought to allow time for injured players to get back to fitness but today’s picks did well enough. It’s against East Fife though and they picked up their first three points today so will be confident.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 21/8/21.

Well, we didn’t get away with this one.

We started slowly and Cove had most of the early possession without really threatening. Our forays up the park were even less so.

Their goal seemed to come out of nothing but there was no pressure on their attackers in the build-up and Mitch Megginson (exercising the iron law of the returning ex-Son) was given far too much time to turn at the edge of the box and hit it. It was their first effort on target and it went in.

Their second effort on target came 22 seconds later. Yes, 22 seconds. Keeper Sam Ramsbottom was caught out by a looping header eerily similar to Airdrie’s second a fortnight ago. Too much room in the box again. The guy possibly didn’t head it properly as it had a weird trajectory but that doesn’t excuse poor marking and poor positioning.

We then stepped it up a bit but only made their keeper field the ball once.

In our first atack in the second half Kalvin Orsi turned and took it for a run. He was only stopped at the edge of the box where the ref gave a foul. Carsy, yes Carsy, hit a glorious shot into the postage stamp. Does he ever score ordinary goals?

We dominated the rest of the half, winning corner after corner but didn’t make any of them pay.

My live stream then started buffering and when I got it back on they were just about to take a penalty. It was apparently a dodgy one, which is beginning to look like it will be our luck this season.

My impressions from this game. Cove were the better team. We lacked menace. Young Callum Wilson in midfield looks a player but he’s still raw. Kalvin Orsi isn’t a centre forward. Sam Ramsbottom’s kicking is a disaster waiting to happen. Happen again, I should say.

That good start seems a long time ago now.