Dumbarton Football Stadium
 
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Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic
“The Wasps” will look back on this game knowing that they had a great opportunity to end their poor record against Dumbarton which now goes back to 13 games without victory. Alloa started the brightly at the Bet Butler Stadium and were the better team before a defensive mistake after 39 minutes gave Dumbarton the opening goal against the run of play. The Wasps had been creating chances, Greig Spence did have the ball in the net but the ball had gone out of play before being headed home, Liam Buchanan nearly scoring with his first touch of the ball after replacing Greig Spence, who had to be replaced after only 17 minutes after tightening of his hamstring. The second goal after 55 minutes came from a corner from ex Wasp Scott Agnew whose cross was headed home by Jordan Kirkpatrick who was not picked up. The Wasps were still in the game but could not convert their chances – Liam Buchanan, Eddie Ferns & Mark Docherty all having opportunities to get on the scoresheet, Mark Docherty then had an effort which came back off the post with the keeper beaten. Twelve minutes from the end Jordan Kirkpatrick went on a sol run, John Gibson saving his chip shot but the ball broke to another ex Wasp, Colin Nish who had only been on the pitch for five minutes to knock the ball into an empty net. The Alloa players never gave up and Stephen Simmons scored an acrobatic volley in the final minute to score a consolation goal.
barry smith at dumbarton
There was nothing in the game in the first half, until we gave them a goal, and that changes the way the game was played, we have created chances in the first and second half but if you don’t take them at one end and make mistakes at the other end, it becomes very difficult to win games. We have gifted them goals today, the first one was a mistake, the second one at a set piece where the player was not picked up from, and the third goal we were pushing trying to get back into the game – but we must take our chances and learn the defend properly. Although Greig Spence had to come off after only 17 minutes, Liam Buchanan has come on and did well, obviously Greig has been playing extremely well and we can’t afford to lose your players who are playing well but we just have to get on with it. He felt a tightening of his hamstring and he asked to come off right away. Even after that we created chances throughout the game but we never took them and didn’t defend good enough to make sure we didn’t concede after doing so well in defending against Rangers last week. We now must look to get ready for another tough match next Saturday against Falkirk and we will look at it positively and go and make sure we do the right things.
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Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic
Saturday’s defeat at the Bet Butler Stadium, Dumbarton was a poor result in a game when “The Wasps” started on the ascendancy and looked to take the game to the home side after they had lost 3-0 to Morton in midweek. The opening goal which is so important came about after referee Andrew Dallas had over ruled his assistant on the main stand side and gave a throw in to the home side, from this attack Mark Gilhaney swept a hopeful ball into the Alloa box which was missed by everyone and sneaked into the net at the back post after going in off the post. Alloa came back and Michael Doyle tried to open his account for the season but the best chance fell to Darren Young who at the back post knocked his effort off the legs of keeper Jamie Ewings. Worse was to follow two minutes into the second half when Garry Fleming scored the 2nd goal of the match with an effort very similar to the opening goal. Ross Caldwell presented Andy Kirk with a great cross, which he flicked past the home defence but Andy Kirk’s net bound header was again blocked by the home keeper. Ex Alloa player Scott Agnew made it three ten minutes from the end before Chris Kane increased the margin to 4-0. Alloa substitute Liam Caddis was then rewarded for shooting at goal when his effort was deflected past Jamie Ewings for a late consolation.
barry smith at dumbarton
The players all work hard and give their all for the club, they just need to have a stronger mentality at times when things aren’t going their way. It was a very disappointing afternoon for us and the boys all know that they can play a lot better. It was just a bad day at the office though, where we haven’t defended properly but that isn’t just down to the defenders. It was a whole team problem. In the first half, I thought we competed well and did the right things early on. There just seems to be that fear factor among the players when they concede a goal, we just seem to be very vulnerable and I can’t seem to get to the bottom of it. Every game from now until the end of the season is a big game for us now. We will look for a reaction from them against Morton but the players know themselves that the performance wasn’t good enough and they must improve if we are to take three points in that game.There is definitely enough quality in the team, that if we do go a goal down, we should be able to score. We just don’t seem to be taking our chances when they come along either. Some of the goals we lost in the match were really uncharacteristic from our point of view. We have got a good defensive record so it was unusual to concede four goals and in the manner that we lost them in. We can’t afford to concede a goal like that as early in the second half like we did because we didn’t get a chance to settle into the game in the second half. But then we need to react better to the situation.It is hard to slaughter them after a game like this where they have played well in stages and created chances but then we are conceding bad goals. I still have great confidence and belief in this team because I know they will do everything in their power to keep us in this division. I believe it, I just need the players to start believing in it.
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Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic
Paul Hartley’s team extended their current unbeaten run to five games after a 1-1 draw at the Bet Fred Stadium, Dumbarton in a game rescheduled from 23rd November after the original fell foul to frost. This time the game went ahead in a gale force wind and driving rain which made the game at times a bit of a lottery. Dumbarton included five ex Wasps players in their team line up – Jamie Ewings, Mark Gilhaney, Bryan Prunty, Mitch Megginson and Colin Nish, managed by another ex player, Ian Murray who also had a short spell on loan from Hibernian at Recreation Park. Alloa had the benefit of the strong wind in the first half and took the lead after 24 minutes when Kevin Cawley expertly curled his shot into the top right hand corner of the net. In the second half Dumbarton had the bulk of possesion, but “The Wasps” still had opportunities to extend their lead. Andy Kirk did have the ball in the net but Graeme Holmes was flagged offside and then Stephen Simmons watched as his 20 yard shot rebounded to safety off the post. In the end it took a special goal from ex Wasp Bryan Prunty to earn his side a draw, scoring with an overhead kick and celebrating with his son, who was a ballboy behind the goals.
paul hartley after draw at dumbarton
I thought we defended well in tough conditions tonight, it was not a game for the faint hearted in terms of the wind and the rain, however I thought we stuck at our task and took the lead with a really good goal from Kevin Cawley and defended really well as a team with good shape about us, we could have nicked the three points but we lost a goal after a mistake from our goalkeeper’s bad kick out, but there was still a lot of work to do for them to score– but on the evening we will take a point. In the first half we might have been more ahead we had a couple of chances, hit the post also in the second half before Dumbarton scored which would have made it 2-0, we soaked up pressure and hit them on the counter attack, that was the plan we had – but in terms of how the players performed, their work ethic and their attitude to the game, we did well, but again on Saturday will have another tough game when we face league leaders Hamilton Accies in a run of difficult games coming up for us. It was another point tonight which moved us towards safety, although we are one point of the play off positions our remit at the start of the season was to stay in the league first and foremost and we have done ok so far but there is a long way to go, we are only 14 games into a long season, however we know we are a match for anybody on our day.
The Scottish Cup tie against Dumbarton in February will be a totally different game, it is a one off game,we are hoping the weather will be a bit better cause that spoiled things a bit tonight, the pitch was good it was in great condition but the wind and rain at times didn’t help both teams play football. Kevin Cawley has been good all season in his work ethic, it was a good goal this evening a great finish, I’m pleased for the wee fella, he has some attitude to the game and maybe doesn’t get 15-20 goals a season but he has everything else in his locker and is still improving. He was a kid a Celtic when I was there but his game is still getting better and better, each time we have moved up a division, Kevin has handled the step up and I definitely think he can handle the step up again.
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Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic
A draw was a fair result against Dumbarton on Saturday but had The Wasps converted at least three gilt edged chances in the first half the result could have been so different. Jim Lister passed a last minute fitness test and Allan Maitland gave a debut to on loan striker Kurtis Byrne from Hibernian both players had excellent games but both players will look back on what might have been early in this match. Not for the first time this season Alloa’s failure in front of goal has come back to haunt them by then losing cheap goals and again that could be said this weekend, however the spirit to get back into the game having been twice behind away from home could not be faulted. he players must no0w take this spirit into Saturday’s game at home against Airdrie United, who are still pushing for a promotional play off spot.
ALLAN MAITLAND AFTER DUMBARTON DRAW
it was a good point gained having been behind twice, it was important to get ourselves back into the game and get something from the game. The first half very much summed up our season the very fact we had three one on ones with the goalkeeper and couldn’t score with any of them. They have a shot which hit someone on the backside and spins and before you know it you are 1-0 down. I thought we were fortunate to get to half time only 1-0 behind, they had a chance with a header just after it. We came out and scored a great early goal in the second half. Then before we know it we lose another sloppy goal and then for the next 20 minutes Dumbarton were the best side and we could have went 3-1 behind rather than 2-1. We brought fresh legs on in Stuart Noble and Nathan Taggart, who I thought was excellent and that made a massive difference for us. At that stage of the game we were really open in mid-field, having a mid field of Michael McGowan, Andy Scott , Nathan Taggart and Stuart Noble there is nobody going to tackle a fish supper in there. It was important that we got the ball into their end of the park and Michael’s finish for the goal I thought was excellent and just after that Kurtis had an effort which they managed to block. They had a chance at the end so a draw seems a fair result for both teams. It was an open game, I was relieved that we showed the character and got back into the game and made sure we didn’t come away from here on the wrong side of another defeat. We have managed to avoid any fresh injuries which is a good thing and I thought the other thing today was the form of Jim Lister – he was struggling to play from the start but he was excellent and a constant thorn in their side at the back. I thought that was important for us. It is strange that we had Mark Gilhaney for a season and he must have played around 5 games and since he has came to Dumbarton he has been excellent and again he was a threat today but James Bloom as the game went on got a hold of him and when he changed wings to the right hand side Billy Gibson also negated that threat. It is a point gained when you are 1-0 and 2-1 down away from home in the way we have been it has to be a point gained. In the first half Michael McGowan was too deep and I asked him at half time to push forward and he did that really well in the second half and he drove us on and scored two wonderful goals. He has been a great addition to us and I am hoping that will continue. I agree with the supporters at the club we have hugely under achieved this season and we shouldn’t be in this situation but I am hoping they will recognise the effort the players are putting in – we have huge injuries at this stage of the season with five or six players who if fit would be first team starters. Supporters anywhere regardless of the team you support all want to see a winning team , and it is only natural that they get frustrated – the first target will be the manager, and I have no problem with that because it means that they are not giving the players abuse.
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Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic
This was a game when nothing went right on the the night for the club, a game the players so wanted to get back to winning ways against a Dumbarton side at the foot of the table, in short to often this season we have not won games which on paper we should be winning and again tonight Dumbarton took full advantage and “The Wasps” suffered a 4-1 defeat.
allan maitland after dumbarton defeat
Reporter:- For a spell in the match you were the better team?
Allan:- I didn’t see that at all, we were second best to absolutely everything, I think in the first ten minutes Dumbarton have hit the post, our keeper has made two great saves and then they scored. At the moment we are a team that is totally disjointed and I have to take full responsibility for that. I brought all these players here and tried to make the team better and for various reasons instead of being a unit we are a team of individuals and that needs to change and needs to change now. So at the moment I have to try and make that rock bottom bit of irony here when we are at Dumbarton. As far as I am concerned we have a game at Brechin on Saturday which by any stretch of the imagination should be a much more difficult game than coming to Dumbarton. But based on the fact we got pumped 4-1 tonight we have to make sure we are ready for Saturday and look forward to the game on Saturday. We need to change our whole mentality at this football club. I have tried to make us a better football club to go and win the league, now I need to change the mentality to something in the region we had last year which was to be hard to beat. Even when we did not play well last year we would get a point, when we were abysmal we would get a point, sometimes we did not play well and we would win and when we played well we won. Now we are playing well in games, but we are either losing or getting draws and when we are not playing as well as we should do – we are getting pumped to East Fife and we are getting pumped to Dumbarton. So Saturday is a difficult game and we have got to make sure it’s a difficult game for Brechin City. I apologise to our supporters that travelled to tonight’s game, they are fully justified in showing there disappointment and I can assure them that any disappointment that they have will be felt by every one of us as well. So it’s a disappointing night but it shouldn’t have been, a night having been disappointed on Saturday – tonight should have been a game for us to get ourselves back on track and that’s not happened so we now need to go to Brechin and make sure we go to Brechin as a team hard to beat.
Reporter: Bryan Prunty received an injury will he be ok for Saturday?
Allan : Eh, I don’t think so I think he has got an ankle injury and looks like he will miss Saturday but lets be honest any one of our players tonight could miss Saturday based on tonight’s performance Bryan included, so as I said earlier I take full responsibility for that and I need to try and encourage the players to get back to doing what they are really good at.
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Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic
Alloa lost their unbeaten league record tonight against Dumbarton having gone 12 games unbeaten back to 14th November, 2009. Manager Allan Maitland made changes to the side from Saturday, Mark McCafferty replaced Kevin Welsh at left back, david gormley was given his first start and Mark Gilhaney was back in the starting eleven – leaving SPL Phenominal Player of the Month Stuart Noble on the bench, along with Andy Scott and John Grant. Dumbarton started the games brightest and Ben Gordon headed them into the lead aftet only 17 minutes. jan Vojacek made a great stop from a Brown Ferguson shot but Alloa were happy to go in at half-time at one down. Two minutes into the second half Dumbarton were awarded a free kick just outside the box and Alan Cook thundered home the increase the home sides lead, then nine minutes later Scott walker was deemed to have given away a penalty just inside the box and worse was to follow when referee Colin Brown gave him a second yellow card on the evening and sent him off, ex Wasp Ross Clark made no mistake from the spot. Allan Maitland then introduced Stuart Noble, John Grant and Andy Scott and soon Alloa began to play more like league leaders. Stuart Noble snatched a goal back only 5 minutes after coming on but “The Wasps” could not get a second goal while they were on top to put pressure on the home side who were looking to play out time.
allan maitland after dumbarton defeat
Dumbarton were better than us for the majority of the game, certainly the first half they came out and started much brighter than us, we obviously had changes to our team, we had players delayed in traffic on the M8 so we had to make changes to the team and maybe that didn’t help us, we were certainly slower than them out of the blocks. Dumbarton deserved to be ahead at half-time and we were possibly fortunate it was only 1-0 at that stage, at half-time we tried to reorganise and sort things out. I thought the free kick for the second goal looks harsh, giving a handball when the player was standing only a yard away from the kicker, we didn’t get a penalty kick – a simple situation with handball in their box , but these things happen and then of course we lose a penalty kick and a sending off, which didn’t help us. The players which ended up on the park showed great effort, great commitment but if you only start playing after an hour, you will find yourself beaten and that is exactly what happened, we were second best and now we have a really difficult game at Stirling on Saturday, for our point of view we need to pick ourselves up, we also managed to have Scott Walker injured and suspended after his red card, Chris Townsley injured, Andy Scott injured and a general feeling on the night of a grievance we never got things our way, I don’t mean I think we deserved to get things our way but most 50/50’s didn’t go our way, however the referee didn’t lose us the game we lost it ourselves, you have to give credit to the opposition, at home Dumbarton have been excellent they were good the first game of the season and they were good tonight and deserved to beat us. Scott Walker is an honest lad and he said at the penalty “I played the ball at the same time as their boy played it and the referee didn’t just give the penalty but chose to send me off?” Even if he had caught the boy I didn’t see the incident as a sending off, it was not a last man situation, the player wasn’t going to run through and score the ball was going away from the two players so I didn’t see that and the referee deemed that it was a sending off along with a penalty. The better team won on the night and we can only blame ourselves for that, we were second to every ball. The three subs livened the game up when they came on and although Stuart Noble pulled a goal back for us we couldn’t get that second goal in the spell when even down to ten players we were on top and causing their defence to panic.
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Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic
Alloa Athletic opened their league season at Dumbarton and won 3-1 in a game full of emotion, this was always going to be a tough fixture after the death of the Dumbarton captain Gordon Lennon in the close season, however not playing at their best, Alloa’s performance in the second half merited their 3-1 victory although in the first hour the team toiled and needed a Dumbarton equaliser to bring them to life. Allan Maitland choose to leave Greig Spence on the bench in the midst of all the transfer speculation and allowed him only the last couple of minutes and a final cheer from the Alloa fans.
Alloa Athletic Dumbarton
1 David Crawford 1 David McEwan
2 David McClune Bkd 28m 2 Andy Geggan
3 Marc McCafferty 3 Chris Smith
4 Scot Buist 4 Ben Gordon
5 Chris Townsley 5 Michael Dunlop
6 John Grant Bkd 83m 6 Ross Clark
7 Andy Scott 7 Chris Craig
8 Mark Brown 8 Scott Chaplain
9 Brian Carrigan 9 Dennis McLaughlin Sent Off 84 m
10 Scott Agnew 10 Derek Carcary
11 Stuart Noble 11 Stevie Murray
12 Gary Carroll (7) 61m Bkd 62m 12 Iain Chishol (7) 80m
14 Hugh Kerr (11) 83m 14 Roddy Hunter (11) 74m
15 Ross Philp 15 Martin McNiff
16 Greig Spence (9) 89m 16 Ryan McStay
GK Stephen Hall GK Michael White (1) 46m
Referee : Anthony Law Asst: Martin Cryans & Alan Newlands
CROWD – 864
1 – 0 John Grant (44 mins)
1 – 1 John Grant OG (54 mins)
2 – 1 Brian Carrigan (60 mins)
3 – 1 Stuart Noble (62 mins)
allan maitland after dumbarton victory
I know today was a big day for Dumbarton and I thought for 60 minutes we tried to help them as much as we could, I didn’t think we started the game well, I thought Dumbarton were excellent and during that spell our goalkeeper was magnificent, having three or four super saves. We did have a couple of problems prior to kick-off with Scot Buist and Andy Scott both being sick in the dressing room prior to the match which obviously didn’t help us, they struggled with that throughout the game. The big thing that changed the game was Brian Carrigan’s goal, when he scored the second goal the whole game opened up for us, Stuart Noble scored a great third goal and after that we started playing. It has been a hard day for Dumbarton, obviously a very emotional day, they have played ever so well and ended the game with nothing and had a man sent-off. I think the rules of the game now, if you are going to tackle from behind you are going to go off, whether it’s a nothing tackle or not by the looks of things, I feel for them, but I said before the game, we need to focus on ourselves and get off to a far better start than we have in recent seasons. I was delighted to see my strikers scoring goals, it was a great result for us but not a fantastic performance.
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