Being a chip off the old Rock

First published in Sons View, 30 October 2010, Dumbarton -v- East Fife

Sometimes it’s more enjoyable to write about football than to watch it. Then again, there are moments when the thought or the word is just as painful as the sight – perhaps more so. No-one connected with Dumbarton FC is having a good time of it at the moment, but as three o’clock nears in this vital home match against East Fife, we have to put all that behind us and let the passion fill our lungs once more.

There was an air of near resignation among some of the Sons’ away faithful last Saturday, as that final indignity, a fourth Stenhousemuir goal moments before full time, hit the back of the net. It was as if the hope had drained right out of us. Eight defeats in the first ten games of the season, 24 goals conceded and only five scored is enough to knock the stuffing out of most football fans.

But on-pitch disappointments and upheavals on the bench aside, the strange appeal of this game is built on unexpected results, hard-worked-for revivals and the possible ‘new dawn’ that each weekend provides for us. It’s what makes predictions so perilous, much to the joy of the bookmakers.

Right now, you’d get some pretty good odds against Dumbarton avoiding the drop. If you’re that way inclined, I’d take them on. There are 26 games and 78 points still up for grabs in this League, and while you wouldn’t stake your life on the Sons bagging a whole lot of them right now, by next year we could be talking in quite different terms. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again.

The problems Dumbarton have at the moment are not, I’d contend, a significant difference in class between the sides that make up the 2010-11 Second Division. They’re based on the continual ebbing away of confidence in recent weeks, the inability to gel as a team on the pitch, and flaws at crucial points in matches which are frustrating (as much for the players and staff as for any of us) but resolvable. Above all, we supporters want the players to show real guts and collective spirit, and they want exactly the same from us in the stands.

In the interests of raising morale, it’s tempting to ransack Dumbarton’s long and illustrious (if sometimes tortured) history to think of one or two examples of Great Escapes and Determined Turnarounds. But it’s now and tomorrow that really counts. The past can drag you down as easily as it can lift you up – except when it’s used as a means of learning from mistakes, rather than blindly repeating them.

Which brings us to today’s opponents. The Fifers are fellow strugglers. They are one of four sides, including ourselves, who have yet to win on the road this term. Seven of their nine points (five more than Sons, as if you needed telling) have come from six home matches. Dumbarton, on the other hand, have only played four times at SHS in the League since August, and the first three of those performances were by no means bad. It was silly mistakes that cost us another two points.

So if we can, for the moment, put that painful 6-0 away drubbing at New Methil to one side (it was two months ago, after all), there are grounds for thinking that a turning point is possible from here in. But a change of attitude as much as approach is needed.

That’s where passion comes in once more. It might not be a substitute for technical ability, tactical acumen and cunning, but it’s still the lifeblood of football: the elixir that gets all the other ingredients working together and pumps the team up to take on the world... or in this case, one of the four senior clubs based in the Fife region!

It’s often said that “seeing is believing”, but there are many times in professional sport where it’s equally true to say, “if we hadn’t believed, we’d never have seen it.” This is not so much about ignoring the facts (those are plain for all to view in Dumbarton’s case), or putting a glossy ‘spin’ on a dire situation, or being blandly optimistic. It’s about the kind of shared determination, self-confidence and willpower that enables you to set the agenda before you, rather than just accept it on someone else’s terms.

So this game against East Fife is another opportunity to get the fight-back against the relegation threat underway. Not the only one, not the last one, but the one Sons have the chance to grasp right now. To show, if you like, that they’re a ‘chip off the old Rock’.
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A new configuration for Sons

Come in, number two...

UPDATE: On 3 Nov 2010, Dumbarton FC announced: "Derek Ferguson will not now be joining interim manager Alan Adamson as his assistant at SHS. Ongoing media commitments have meant that Derek could not commit the time required for the position and therefore will not be part of DFC's interim backroom staff."

Events have moved quickly at Dumbarton, following the resignation of Jim Chapman as first team manager, and his move into a post aimed at further developing youth and community initiatives. Allan McManus has joined Alan Adamson, who is now in the managerial role, as a player-coach. The  experienced Derek Ferguson has also come on board as assistant manager - though other commitments mean that he will not be on the bench for the game against East Fife today.

Derek signed for Rangers as a midfielder the day after his 16th birthday, and later played for Dundee, Hearts, Sunderland and Falkirk, among others, as well as winning two Scotland caps. His recent experiences on the bench haven't been easy. Nor will his strong 'Gers connections be universally popular. But Sons fans will still be hoping that he can add another chapter to his autobiography, Big Brother... one that documents Dumbarton's dramatic turnaround in the 2010/11 season.

The new team on the DFC bench certainly deserves our support and encouragement this afternoon, and in the coming weeks.
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Life, Jim - but not as you've known it

The last 'meet the manager' session at SHS

There was a double announcement from Dumbarton FC about under-pressure Jim Chapman yesterday. First, that he had stepped down as first team manager. Second, that he would be continuing as Director of Community and Football Development. The cynics will say that it's a money-driven decision, and that is bound to be part of the picture. But my first reaction is to think it's a wise move, all aspects of the situation considered. Jim picked up the Sons at a really low point, won a championship trophy in his first full season, consolidated us in the Second Division and won the Stirlingshire Cup last term. He deserves credit, respect and thanks for that... But this time, unfortunately,  it's gone decidedly pear-shaped nearly a third of the way in.

The sad thing is that the youth and reserve teams are going great guns. That is the other key dimension of this move. Jim has demonstrated a huge interest in, and capacity for, the roles that will now absorb all his attention, and that can only be good for the club. As to the substantive issue, I'm always in favour of giving managers the time they need to turn things around when they are going badly. The instant hire-and-fire culture that's taken over the game at many levels is daft. But sometimes you know that, with the best will in the world (and I'm sure there was plenty of that), it's just not working. So a change of dynamics or a fresh injection of energy is needed.

After the past three games, it really isn't clear how Dumbarton are going to move up a league in which they now sit rooted to the bottom. But a consolidated effort is certainly needed to ensure that Sons, if at all possible, don't enter 2011 well adrift. That, I'm sure was part of the decision-making on all sides. We have no idea what things have been like in the dressing room. Supporters always speculate, of course. But personally I am glad that Jim Chapman will still be contributing to the development of the club for a while more.

It's difficult enough to see how we could afford a full-time manager given our resources, let alone two posts. So it will be interesting to see how things pan out from here. Alan Adamson merits strong backing for his first outing as interim manager against East Fife on Saturday. And whatever upheavals there have been, I also hope the fans give Jim recognition and a good berth to continue the vital youth and community side of things. As for the "further announcement regarding an Assistant/First Team Coach" that we are promised "in due course"... Ah well, that'll keep a few jaws well exercised, at least!
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Not much chance of another New Firm

Tonight I got my first opportunity, since moving up to Scotland, of getting to see a full 90 minutes of SPL level football - albeit on television, and a Co-operative Insurance Cup tie. Inevitably it involved an Old Firm side. Frankly, I'd rather have watched Dundee United versus Motherwell or Aberdeen versus Falkirk yesterday, but that would have been as likely as the emergence of another New Firm to challenge the green and blue duopoly.

As it happens, St Johnstone versus Celtic at McDiarmid Park turned out to be pretty absorbing in the second half, with a noble fightback from the Perth club almost taking us into extra time. They came back from 3-0 down, before eventually losing 3-2. It didn't start that way, though. Some feeble defending had the Bhoys three up inside 13 minutes. Thankfully, a very sweetly struck response from St Johnstone's Sam Parkin, albeit from another defensive lapse, recaptured some interest and possibility in the game. The BBC studio must have been mightily relieved to have a talking point (they tried bravely to portray the match as an uncertain contest)... other than pundit and Dons captain Paul Hartley's strange inability to find a shirt that fitted him for his latest TV appearance.

Murray Davidson's header also gave Saints cheer, but they missed vital scoring opportunities late on. Credit also goes to incredibly hard-working Collin Samuel, incidentally. Overall, though, this was too often like watching a League One or lower level Championship match in England - which given the absurd gulf in resources and population is not surprising, but is nevertheless sad. Up here the SPL is the big bad wolf for lower league supporters. Down south, I would have very much liked some coverage - especially as English football is compulsory on Scottish television, while our own game goes neglected because of the self-fulfilling prophecy of "lack of interest". That and the Old Firm resource-sucking machine.  Yes, I know, they generate considerable revenue too, but the distortion of the market is palpably negative overall. Thus the scrabbling around for some semblance of a credible SPL restructuring idea.

My instincts in Scotland are to support anyone playing Rangers and Celtic, and not really to care when they play each other. In European competition, everything is suddenly reversed, and the Old Firm are the plucky minnows - complaining, with no sense of irony, about the imbalance created by the Euro billionaires. Anyway, I was strangely pleased that the 'Gers defied Manchester United in the Champions League.

As a BBC message board poster succinctly put it at the time: "Possibly the best example of the chasm between both teams lies in the fact that Manchester United played a player in defence for whom they paid a sum which is almost as much as Rangers all-time record signing and worth more than all of Rangers's signings in the past four years. Sadly, the player in question was Chris Smalling, not Rio Ferdinand, which sort of underlines how impressive the result was from a Rangers perspective." Indeed.
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Time for the Rooney tax

I've been a keen public supporter of the so-called Robin Hood Tax (a micro-levy on global financial transactions to invest in development and poverty reduction), but Aditya Chakrabortty, the economics leader writer for the Guardian, has come up with another good idea. The Wayne Rooney tax on over-valued, uneconomic footballing assets.

Ol' Money Bags

Writes Aditya: "Pug-faced footballers interest me about as much as conveyancing solicitors, who have had far more impact on my life. There was even a brief period at school when I thought this Man U everyone else was talking about was actually a Burmese military dictator....

"What interests me is how a striker who has only scored one goal this season, who had a terrible World Cup, who is in what's widely described as the worst form of his career, can command a weekly wage reportedly between £200,000 and £250,000. And for that, economists have some answers. Even better, whether left or right, Chicago or Cornell, their arguments yield some common suggestions for what can be done about it. Best of all, in these austere times, those suggestions involve imposing higher taxes on the people who earn such huge amounts. We can even call it a Rooney tax, and demand that George Osborne introduces one in his next Budget." Read the rest here.
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Do Newcastle deserve Chris Hughton?

More managerial shenanigans. No, I'm not talking about Jim Chapman at Dumbarton (I'll come to that later), but the media-fuelled rumours swirling around Newcastle United that manager Chris Hughton might be forced out. There has always been a phalanx at NUFC who, with an inflated sense of their own importance, believe that - in spite of the incredible job Hughton did in delivering them from the second division, and his creditable consolidation of the side in the English Premier League - they deserve a "bigger name" to produce Champions League Football. Probably by the week after next.

This is little short of pathetic. Chris Hughton is a skilled, hard-working and decent man. His team are ninth in the EPL, just four points off the top five. That's a very solid achievement indeed. The Newcastle board have tonight come out with an uninspiring statement of support for their gaffer - one which simply says that he remains their manager (you don't say!) and that... wait for it... his contract will be reviewed at the end of the year. No hint that he can stay longer term. So, after all he's done, the poor chap is still on probation.

If they do get rid of him, the club will sink even further in the estimation of those who think that a sense of perspective (let alone gratitude to a manager who rescued them from their last two, disastrous, "star appointments") is part of what makes a football club deserving. Not an overweening sense of entitlement. Do Newcastle United deserve Chris Hughton?  That's what's really at stake here.
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Nothing Roo under the sun

Wayne shares his thoughts...

For a fleeting moment I thought that there might be something more interesting than manipulation and greed behind Wayne Rooney's media ploy to wheedle something between £150-250 thousand-a-week out of debt-ridden megaliths Manchester United. As an embodiment of the triumph of realpolitik over any semblance of decency and dignity at the top of the game, that gurning image of Alex Ferguson and El Wayne, following Roo's "shock decision" to line his pockets after all, will take some beating. It was right out of the North Korean school of spin-doctoring.

But back to the nugget of interest. The original claim from Rooney's ex-vacuum cleaner salesman agent, Paul Stretford, was that "the boy" wanted to move on because he had not received assurances that the club could secure enough big signings to keep silverware dropping into their hands. The press pack immediately interpreted that as a "lack of ambition" accusation, which is obviously ridiculous. More serious is the thought that MUFC's debt servicing burden, leveraged in courtesy of the Glazers' overall £769 million millstone, will continue to constrain the purse strings and threaten the financial stability of even such a giant club as this.

One journalist and diligent student of football's ins and outs who continues to tell the underlying story of United's glistening goldmine is the estimable David Conn. Always worth reading. Earlier this month he lanced MUFC chair David Gill's feeble attempt to bypass debt-pile facts, by pointing to the club's operating profit, thusly: "With the interest payments, plus interest at 14.25% on the £202m 'payment in kind' hedge fund debt, and the £13m paid to banks for United to issue that bond, the cost of the Glazers' financial chicanery last year alone was £123m. The total cost of the Florida-based family's takeover of United, done with mostly borrowed money in 2005, which was then loaded on to the club to repay, has since been £583m, in interest, bank fees and other charges."

This story still has a lot of mileage in it. As for the dismal Rooney, Ferguson should have thanked him for his "change of heart"... and told him to take a hike. If only life was like that.
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Avoiding Rock bottom

Limbering up at Larbert

Well, OK, we are bottom. But not down and out yet - though it is very hard to 'take the positives' from Dumbarton's outing to Stenhousemuir this afternoon. Given that Sons' record this season is 10 played, eight lost, one won and one drawn, we are actually fairly fortunate to be only five points adrift at the foot of the Second Division. A couple of wins and a draw or two could yet take us out of the morass, provided others continue to struggle. The problem is that there are few signs that this is going to happen.

Looking at goals conceded (24) and the comedy errors for the first and final blows in Sons' 4-0 defeat at Larbert today, you would most naturally assume that the real problem is at the back. But I'm not so sure. The mistakes come partly from lack of confidence, and that in turn relates to the lack of prowess up front. With Derek Carcary out, Dumbarton look toothless in attack. Two penalties and two wonder-strikes from Del account for four of our five in League football so far this season. Where is the industry going to come from? Today no-one  came particularly close to scoring, save Martin McNiff (whose home shirt I sponsor, and who has put in some fair performances, though he lacks experience). Moreover, not holding onto the ball, or not showing signs of breaking through and doing something with it, puts a defence under more pressure, psychologically as well as physically.

To add to the chagrin of away supporters today, the Stenny 'Man of the Match' was (deservedly) awarded to Ross Clark, who previously wore a Dumbarton jersey. Arguably, Stevie Murray was even better. It's easy to ask why we let one or two of our more experienced players go last term, but bygones are bygones. The difficulty right now is that an effective looking playing structure is being established at the Club, the reserves and the youth are doing very well indeed, but the first team looks frozen by fear and rather confused and indecisive in its shape and communication. Unlike some, I think we have players who can do a job for us, but they're not performing to their potential and gelling on the pitch.

How to play Derek Carcary is another conundrum. Before his injury, he was often being used as an 'impact' substitute on the hour. Then he was given a couple of starts, against Brechin (where he scored) and Airdrie United. That choice could run and run. Derek appears to be a confidence player, but that can lean both ways in terms of when to deploy him. The main issue, it seems to me, is that, while highly skilled and dangerous to opposing defences, he is slight of stature and needs back-up against the hefty central defenders who populate this division.

Dumbarton fans stare into the fading light

Boss Jim Chapman is an able coach, of that there's little doubt. But at this stage in the season, something pretty substantial is needed to stem the decline. In the past, when difficulties have arisen, we have gone back to basics. That may be what's needed now.  At this level, 4-4-2, a more stable starting 11 and securing players' best positions can help restore the foundations and build morale. We will also need more experience come the New Year. The emphasis on cultivating youth is absolutely right. Highly desirable, in fact. But if the dividends don't start to come through at the top level in the next few matches, the project is in serious peril.

For supporters, it's also a testing time. This afternoon there was a half-time volley or two of complaint. But more worrying, at every level, is the sense of resignation. Giving up with less than a third of the season gone isn't what we want or need. But you know you're in trouble when the opposition's goals start to receive ironic applause. (The genuine kind for Ross when he was announced as MOM was more heartening). A huge effort to get behind the team is going to be needed at the Rock on 30 October. 

Talking of which: next up, it's East Fife at SHS. Our last encounter, at New Bayview, was that dreadful 6-0 thumping in August (though it feels more recent than that). A decent home result this time would do a lot to repair the lingering wounds. I'm not sure how it's going to happen, but 'mon Sons!
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Reality check

Sons' decline goes on

First published as Sons' misery continues and as the match report (with pics by Donald Fullarton) on the Dumbarton FC website
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Dumbarton failed to lift themselves out of the doldrums against Stenhousemuir this afternoon, losing 4-0 on what began as a blustery afternoon at Ochilview

Stenny first half corner

After an edgy start, the home side's Paul Quinn opened the scoring on 4 minutes with a goal sneaked in at the near post after a defensive mix-up.

Six minutes later a nervy Dumbarton defence almost conceded in identical manner, as Stenhousemuir started to dominate possession.

Martin McNiff hit a good 35-yarder across the face of Stenny's goal just short of the quarter hour, as Sons began to push back.

Then on 21 minutes ex-SHS man Ross Clark put the Ochilview side two up from the penalty spot following an infringement from Ben Gordon.

Alan Cook replaced Stirling Smith for Dumbarton on 37 minutes, shortly after a strong effort from Mark Gilhaney on the edge of the box brought out a good flying save from the Warriors' keeper.

Just before half time Clark added further to Sons' misery, slotting in number three past a despairing Stephen Grindlay.

Sons try to throw off the shadows

Dumbarton began the second half with fresh energy, and had two goal efforts and a corner forced away.

In an attempt to pile on yet more pressure, Sons brought on John McShane and Gary Smith in a double substitution shortly afterwards.

The game swung back and forth for the next half hour, with neither side managing the necessary sharpness in the final third.

Then, as if out of nowhere, Stenhousemuir's Grant Plenderleith rounded keeper Grindlay to make it four for the home side.

So another frustrating and deflating afternoon for Dumbarton, with a 4-0 defeat to fellow strugglers keeping Sons firmly rooted to the bottom of the Second Division.
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Searching for some Larbert fizz

The last encounter at SHS

So today it's Stenny again. The trip to Larbert, after a quick stop over for a cuts protest in Edinburgh, is only an hour or so - pretty much a 'home game' for a Leither. There's a funny psychological twist to playing Stenhousemuir again on their plastic pitch, mind. Dumbarton won there 2-1 (well, the youngsters did) in the Stirlingshire Cup back on 24 August. Then the Warriors visited SHS on 11 September and we won our only League game of the season thus far. So in spite of seven defeats out of nine in the first quarter of the season and only five goals scored, two of them penalties, we have a 100% record against this afternoon's opponents. That's a bit worrying. Still, I'm hopeful (when am I ever not?). Plus, the manager is apparently still in bullish mood. The reserves remain unbeaten. The under-19s are filling their boots. We are in another cup final, against Falkirk (the aforementioned Stirlingshire Cup), and could theoretically win silverware for the third season in a row. But the first team just can't seem to translate themselves into a coherent unit. A win in Larbert might help to change that. I hope so, for all concerned. Better bring a hip-flask, though.
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Happiness envy

Mixed signals?

And so to Peterhead, in eager anticipation that dear Dumbarton might relieve themselves of their current, er, ‘foundational’ position in Irn Bru Scottish Football League Division Two. No such luck, but how were we possibly to know?

The journey to Balmoor (capacity 4,000 – 1,000 seated, it says optimistically in my ground guide) turned out to be a 330 mile round trip – my earlier  iPhone-fuelled calculation having proved exaggerated. It was not without incident. No, I didn’t say ‘excitement’, I said ‘incident’. When events on the field are as they are for Sons at the moment, even a throw-in is ‘one for the diary’. The very same principle applies to the preceding pilgrimage.

Thus the woman in the queue at the Strathcathro motorway café fixed me with her puzzled stare. “Is that a football team?” she asked, pointing to the black and gold crest on my fleece. Given our current plight, a number of possible answers crossed my mind. But as my mouth opened I thankfully found that I had swapped “allegedly” for a rather wan “yes”. She was a stranger, after all. Fitba grief is best kept private in such circumstances.

Road to nowhere

Coincidentally, the supporters’ coach from Dumbarton had arrived in Strathcathro at the same time as the Edinburgh crew. I say “coincidentally”, but given that our ever-focused driver, Graeme Robertson, gleefully announced that we were “only three minutes over-schedule” on the way back, I suspect it might have been carefully planned.

Anyway, having been diverted by an earlier accident and bridge closure, I conspired to eek a few more precious seconds from Robbo’s log by forgetting to use the word “takeaway” when ordering two coffees and a tea. Since “latte” hadn’t worked, I guess I figured that crockery wouldn’t come into the equation, either. But I was wrong. So Graeme, Cliffe Jones and I found ourselves socialising briefly with our DFC festooned fellow-sufferers. No-one mentioned the match directly. We kind of knew, I think. My official prediction remained 2-1 to Dumbarton. Well, I got one of those goals right. But not one of ours.

Premonition...

Mr Robertson was keen to be on his way after this accidentally lengthened pit stop. As he swung our vehicle round in the service area (while I was still wondering whether we should have made a bid for the café shop’s five foot stuffed black horse, just as a terrace talking point) some supporters were milling outside. You could see from the glint in his eye that he was wondering, “is that five or ten points for getting a Sons fan?” Not really. It’s just foot-of-the-table mental catharsis.

Meanwhile, the growing strangeness of “going north” manifested itself some minutes later, when a keen young driver decided that it would be a good idea to try and overtake us, starting from the slow lane, at about 50 miles an hour in the very small gap between our car and a rather large lorry. Sensible. It turned out to be an L-Plated local Stirling Moss on a comedy death-wish, I think. At times like this I feel glad to be a non-driver. Knowing what’s going on doesn’t really help.

The look says it all...

We made one more stop, at a gas station (my wife’s American, that’s how we say it in our household.) I rather wish I’d taken a picture of the big poster opposite the pumps. “You can’t be too careful!” it warned us – above a picture of a woman with a giant oil gauge and a rag. “Is that how family planning works around here?” I found myself asking. Only joking, dear Aberdonians. Your honoured birthright is not in peril.

And so to the Peterhead ground. A neat little affair, I must say, with a very friendly bar and social club. Dumbarton director Alan Jardine’s gesture of lunch for a number of us was much appreciated. The vegetarian option was duly negotiated: macaroni cheese, quiche and garlic bread. Delicious, and the Guinness was superbly poured and finished with the traditional shamrock nozzled onto the head. I texted a picture of the delicacy to my beloved’s mobile phone, since I knew she would be amused. “Look, not a veggie in sight!” I observed drolly.

It went wrong after the warm-up

As to the game itself, I’ll leave that to the match report below. It was fairly grim stuff, but I still believe we can dig ourselves out of this footballing grave. Always believe, Barrow. Mind you, there was what could well have been a 'signifier' (as old Jean Baudrillard might have put it) on the way. The ‘Coma’ guest house. Yes, really.

Curiously, given the disappointment of yet another defeat, the return journey went quickly. Sleep does that. And we were only three minutes off schedule, as I mentioned. Pity about the game.
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As time goes by

Silent scream

Seriously, he’s a really nice guy, but this is a man you don’t want to mess with on match day!

Very loyal Dumbarton supporter Cliffe Jones, whose day job is to be the Edinburgh Glencorse golf club professional, is here engaged in an activity which produces enough steam to heat the stand for around ten minutes. Solo. That’ll come in very handy when the winter really sets in.

Yup, he’s reading the team sheet. And yes, around that mild demeanour, the air you see is indeed blue, even though it looks white in my picture. Don’t worry, Cliffe. The season starts next week. Honest. And thanks for the Peterhead ticket – much appreciated, in spite of the result.
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PM on the penalty spot

The Prime Minister was given the opportunity to back a supporters’ bid for a football club facing liquidation today. He ducked it, except in the most generalised terms.

The issue concerns Ilkeston Town FC, which is in liquidation, but could be brought back from the brink by a fan initiative with small business backing. The time of judgement comes later this month. I've written about the Ilkeston challenge, and some wider issues of football governance and finance, over at the Sonstrust  site in a piece entitled Reforming Football Ownership and Funding. 

You can sign the petition to back the fan buyout here.
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Disappointment at Peterhead

First published on Dumbarton FC's website as Sons beaten again, with Donald Fullarton. Slightly adapted.

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It had been dubbed Dumbarton's 'must win' game, but in an intense tussle today with Peterhead at Balmoor, Sons lost 1-0, failing to secure the breakthrough they so badly needed. They now sit marooned at the foot of the Second Division table with October only half over.

A nervy start saw the home team's no. 9 Martin Bavidge miss an early chance after the Blue Toon broke through on just four minutes.

Peterhead looked more comfortable on the ball in the early exchanges, as Daniel Moore flashed a header past Stephen Grindlay's left post.

But Dumbarton held their 3-5-2 shape in spite of the pressure, and on 20 minutes, after beginning to take possession again, Iain Chislom almost broke through on the right-hand side for Sons.

When former Dumbarton striker Dennis Wyness gave way to Scott Ross on 26 minutes, Chisholm had another half chance before Keiron Brennan almost deceived Toon 'keeper John Bateman inches away from his goal.

Peterhead pinned back the visitors with three corners shortly after the half hour, but then Andy Geggan's free kick five yards from the home side's area signalled a fresh bout of energy from the Sons.

Towards the end of the first period, Dumbarton began to thread together a number of promising moves, but could not capitalise on them in the box - though Ross Campbell again went close.

Shortly into the second half, Peterhead substitute Ross dashed Sons' initial hopes with a sweetly struck goal high and to the right of the flying Grindlay.

The visitors immediately began to push back, but Toon had taken heart from their lead and made it difficult for Dumbarton to get back into the match.

After the hour Mark Gilhaney replaced Ryan McStay for Sons. Paul Maxwell came on for Tony Wallace six minutes later. However, Dumbarton struggled to regain momentum and confidence.

On 77 minutes Sons won a corner, and then rapidly found themselves tracking back in a see-saw final period of the game.

Ben Gordon had a shot deflected away as the whistle drew near, but Dumbarton's last throw of the dice with Ryan Metcalf replacing Iain Chisolm, a header from Martin McNiff and a shot blasted over the bar by Gilhaney came too late to thwart another disappointing defeat.
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Farewell, Big Mal

"A lot of hard work went into this defeat" declared the late, great Malcom Allison on one memorable occasion. He was one of the game's abiding characters, a King of Bling before the concept was invented, and rightly termed by Henry Winter "a coach of immense stature". As far as the quotable gem above goes, it's the almost perfect exemplar of what is now grindingly known as "taking the positives"... with tongue firmly in cheek.

Big Mal is best known for his time at Manchester City, of course, and Crystal Palace too. But he also had a strong relationship with lovable minnows Bath City, who have bravely fought their way into the Blue Square Premier Division this season, with the backing of one of my favourite film-makers, Ken Loach, among others.

Another City: A Week in the Life of Bath's Football Club was made in 1998 and features Allison. It is included in the DVD package that comes with Loach's thoroughly enjoyable recent movie, Looking for Eric. A must see, both of them, along with a good documentary about FC United of Manchester.
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Big day out up north

Clash of the mini-Titans

My good friend and former colleague Kai Funkschmidt writes: "I see you make best use of Edinburgh residency to write in-depth analysis of why Dumbarton are doing fine despite losing. That's the spirit. I'll declare you an honorary St Pauli supporter!"  Honour accepted, Kai. Except that today I am forsaking the Athens of the North for a long day out on the search for goals and points at Balmoor. Our opponents Peterhead haven't exactly had a great start to the season either, but the maths of this encounter are stark. Win and we escape the basement. Draw and the we stay in the doldrums. Lose and we go at least four or five points adrift. I shall travel in hope - and early, and then late. Of course the 170 odd miles between Edinburgh and Peterhead is but nothing compared to the near 800 mile round trip between my old haunt, Exeter, and Dumbarton. But even so, we'd better play well!
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