SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 1/4/23.

April Fool?

Sadly not.

Yes, the injuries and the pitch have certainly taken their toll.

What a difference a week makes. We looked okay against Stirling (apart from losing the same goal twice) and I was quite optimistic.

Not now. We apparently deserved nothing from the game. Aaron Lynas’s goal just before half-time was, it seems, the only bright point.

At least we have a whole week now before our next game, a tough trip to Annan.

But who knows how many players will be fit for it.

SPFL Tier 4, Forthbank, 25/3/23.

Well what an odd experience that was.

Despite our scudding last weekend and them on a roll what with going top by two points in midweek, this had a Stirling win all over it.

Yet still, I went to the game and, pre-match, had a pretty good feeling about it.

There was a pretty good turn out of Dumbarton fans too and the players seemed to appreciate it.

That good feeling almost evaporated after two minutes when Greg Buchanan was handed a yellow card for absolutely nothing. A couple of minutes or so after that it was Finlay Gray’s turn to see yellow. He seemed to me genuinely to have been fouled at the edge of the box.

Then a few minutes later Ross Maclean was shoved in the back in retaliation by one of their defenders when the ball was dead – right in front of the ref. No card – of any colour. Then Brett Long was shown yellow for time-wasting. He was trying to get the match ball after a ball boy had thrown him a substitute. Ross Maclean also got a yellow in the first half. I was thinking we would be lucky to end up with even nine men on the pitch. To contrast this Ally Love got an elbow to his face – play on. Gregg Wylde got caught by a dangerously high Stirling boot – again play on.

Somehow in all this we managed to score. Peter Grant had brought a save from their keeper from a corner but the goal was from open play, a Kalvin Orsi cross headed back across the keeper by Ross MacLean. It looked to me an easier save than the one he had made.

Their goal came from a corner (following a corner.) It looked to me like the the ball had gone out off one of their players. But the subsequent header was uncontested.

The ref wasn’t so egregious in the second half. The talk was all that someone (the supervisor perhaps) had had a word with him. If he’d carried on in the second half like he did in the first there would certainly have been fewer bodies on the pitch at the end. He did finally start wielding yellows to Stirling players but he couldn’t avoid it the fouls were so blatant.

Our second was a blast from Finlay Gray after Stirling hadn’t cleared their lines.

Despite having a bit more possession Stirling created very little from open play. That their second equaliser came from a corner following a corner (great block by Greg Buchanan) was severely disappointing. It was a carbon copy of their first.

Still what could have been a five point deficit is only two.

I only hope we have a few more players to call on soon than we had for this one. We were down to only five subs on the bench and Kalvin Orsi’s injury towards the end looked a sore one.

This follows on from Dumbarton P-P Stirling Albion on Tuesday night – a completely farcical call-off made only when the game referee turned up and had a look at the pitch.

Every Dumbarton fan knows that a strip of pitch on the stand side doesn’t get the sun, so how come the groundsman didn’t make efforts to alleviate this or call for an earlier inspection? (There’s history with the present groundsman, too complicated to go into here.)

At least today’s call-off was after a 10 am inspection and no fans, local or travelling, were inconvenienced by it.

However it does mean that the rearranged Stirling game (now due on Tuesday) – if it goes ahead – has become a must-not-lose since they managed to reduce the gap to two points after gaining a win in added time today. And they still have a game in hand.

SPFL Tier 4, Stair Park, 4/3/23

Sons fans do not travel to Stair Park with expectation. Not expectation of a good result anyway.

So, this was a delightful suprise. Then again we needed it as Stirling Albion won again.

Ross MacLean did the business for us first half and Gregor Buchanan put a gloss on it in the second.

On now to the big one against Stirling at home on Tuesday (weather permittting.)

It’s not a must win but it’s verging on a can’t afford to lose.

I’d take the draw now.

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 28/2/23.

I must confess that after the last two results I hadn’t expected this.

But it was a much needed win – and achieved with a few players out. Thank you Finlay Gray for the goal.

That’s us five points ahead of Stirling Albion now.

Off to Stranraer now on Saturday where, doubtless, our poor record means the points difference will be back to two again.

But we can hope.

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 25/2/23.

We have gone seriously off the boil. That’s eleven points dropped in our last six games. So, not a good time to lose at home for the first time this season.

As last week we went behind pretty early. At least this time we got an equaliser through Ryan Blair but we gave away a penalty early in the second half.

It seems from Pie and Bovril that we were truly bad today too.

Plus we’ve got a game on Tuesday against Stenhousemuir at home and they’ve come onto a game recently.

Then it’s away to Stranraer next Saturday and our record there is awful.

By the time we play Stirling Albion on Tuesday week we could well be behind them.

SPFL tier 4, New Bayview, 18/2/23.

Sometimes it just isn’t your day.

I had the feeling that might be the case when early on Ally Love was put through in a position to lob the keeper. He put it wide.

A few minutes later we had a shot blocked from what looked a promising opening.

Then we lost Gregg Wylde to injury a few seconds after it seemed Finlay Gray was fouled in their box. Had the ref given it the injury wouldn’t have happened.

Their first came from a corner that never was. The ball clearly went out from an East Fife player’s head. (It should still hve been defended though.)

Not long after Martin McNiff also had to go off.

Two substitutions in the first half and a goal down. However we were the team putting more pressure on but couldn’t work a clear opening.

With Stirling Albion two goals down at half time it was possible we might get away with it.

Second half was much the same. Declan Byrne and Russell MacLean came on but didn’t really change the dynamic. MacLean though did look to have a chance to score late on but didn’t make good contact with the ball and bundled it towards the keeper.

Their second was as a result of us chasing the point. We had too many players upfield and the break exposed us.

To make things worse Stirling managed to get two in the second half despite being down to ten men. Our advantage has dropped to only three points – which may be zero if Stirling win their game in hand.

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 11/2/23.

Another win. And now seven points ahead but with Stirling Albion having two games in hand.

We mustn’t moan, Annan have been going well recently.

Still that’s two weeks in a row now we’ve been pegged back to 1-1 (only the third time this season we’ve conceded an equaliser.)

Maybe that’s good though. After Ryan Wallace scored early they got theirs on 52 minutes. That meant we couldn’t afford to sit back and soak up pressure. We need to keep looking for goals.

Russell McLean got the winner with 12 minutes left.

SPFL Tier 4, Ochilview, 4/2/23.

It was annoying to drop two points in added time, but at least we didn’t lose. And no damage was done to our lead since Stirling Albion also drew – but a win would have made the margin between us more comfortable.

I suppose Ally Love’s goal for us just before half-time meant we didn’t go looking for another too forcefully so this was an ending that was probably coming.
We haven’t scored two in a game for over a month now. We’ll need to start doing that again if we’re to stay top.

SPFL Tier 4, Station Park, 14/1/23.

Well, this is a disappointment.

Mind you, you can’t expect to win a game when one of your centre-halves is sent off after 12 minutes. It also doesn’t help that he’s barely had a game in almost two years due to injury and the form of our other choices.

Plus Forfar have been our bogey team of late.

It would have been nice to extend our lead to seven points. As it is it could be down to one after the postponements get played. (Or worse if we lose to Stirling Albion.)

Free hit next week with our cup game against Kilmarnock.