Dumbarton vs Stirling Albion

[Jan Vojáček]

1 minute ago, FifeSons said:

Any interview with Faz to come?

Yup, should be. It was certainly recorded last night.

[The Moonster]

3 minutes ago, Mattie1880 said:

Would you like to attend our remaining games and let us know if we celebrate appropriately? 

In amongst you wet wipes? No thank you.

1 minute ago, unitedbino said:

Roughly 600 fans travelled through to a L2 match on a Tuesday night after it had been postponed five times previously (and just three days after a similar number travelled to Stenny) and that's apparently still not good enough? Come on now.

Who said your numbers weren't good enough? You brought a great support through, just thought it was strange you were so quiet, especially at FT.

[FifeSons]

1 minute ago, Jan Vojáček said:

Yup, should be. It was certainly recorded last night.

Please tell me he didn't say "if you'd offered a chance at the title with 3 games to go, pre-season, Sons fans would've bitten your hand off".

[WattersIsGod]

12 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

Just to add my own tuppence worth, I'd have said the mood in the Stirling end was quite tense? Chris said to me that it felt like the game needed a goal so the fans knew how to act. Fall behind and they'd have got right behind the team; take the lead and they'd have been partying. From the crowd if felt like a crunch relegation clash where neither side wanted to lose more than a title battle.

That's been the case with our own support a fair whack this season too - even when we were winning to be fair. But I was expecting the away end to be jumping like the home end was at Forthbank last month with constant 'we are going up' or '10 clear and you fucked it up' type chants. But there wasn't really any of that.

I agree. It did feel tense.

The unbeaten run has been amazing and exhausting and it now feels like we are within touching distance.

I for one, rally didn't want us to lose and open the door even a wee bit.

I think you are right, a goal would have livened everything up.

Thought Paul McLean should have done better with the header from the corner first half and it sure looked like handball from mcniff in the second. Apart from that we didn't make a lot of clear chances.

We were better with the ball on the ground. Seemed like grant, buchanan and mcniff were winning nearly everything in rhe air especially 2nd half.

Was surprised at no 2nd half subs earlier, not even the traditional 60 minute winger switch.

On to Saturday and hopefully we seal it in front of a packed forthbank

[Jan Vojáček]

1 minute ago, FifeSons said:

Please tell me he didn't say "if you'd offered a chance at the title with 3 games to go, pre-season, Sons fans would've bitten your hand off".

 I don't think he did. He wouldn't be wrong mind you...! When was the last time we still had a mathematical chance of winning the league with three games left?!

2 minutes ago, WattersIsGod said:

I agree. It did feel tense.

The unbeaten run has been amazing and exhausting and it now feels like we are within touching distance.

I for one, rally didn't want us to lose and open the door even a wee bit.

This is exactly how I felt during our seven game winning run to start the season. And, by all accounts, the players felt quite similar. It sounds really daft when you're putting together great results, but not experiencing defeat starts to become a 'I wonder how we'll react when we do lose' - and I think that plays on the minds of players. It certainly played on my mind.

Fortunately you guys can now lose with no harm done. But the players will want to end the season unbeaten...which maybe means they are playing with a bit less freedom than they would if they were in this exact position - but only five games unbeaten.

[Ignoramus]

1 minute ago, WattersIsGod said:

I agree. It did feel tense.

The unbeaten run has been amazing and exhausting and it now feels like we are within touching distance.

I for one, rally didn't want us to lose and open the door even a wee bit.

I think you are right, a goal would have livened everything up.

Thought Paul McLean should have done better with the header from the corner first half and it sure looked like handball from mcniff in the second. Apart from that we didn't make a lot of clear chances.

We were better with the ball on the ground. Seemed like grant, buchanan and mcniff were winning nearly everything in rhe air especially 2nd half.

Was surprised at no 2nd half subs earlier, not even the traditional 60 minute winger switch.

On to Saturday and hopefully we seal it in front of a packed forthbank

I spoke to DY and Kyle Banner after the match and they essentially admitted that the mood in the camp for most of the second half was to make sure they didn’t lose the game. It tallied up with the approach on subs etc in the second half I would say.

The fact the game was a bit of a stinker probably didn’t help the atmosphere on either side - there was little to really get excited about from effectively the opening minutes of the game and the whole thing felt like an anticlimax.

[Snoddyisabino]

6 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

Just to add my own tuppence worth, I'd have said the mood in the Stirling end was quite tense? Chris said to me that it felt like the game needed a goal so the fans knew how to act. Fall behind and they'd have got right behind the team; take the lead and they'd have been partying. From the crowd if felt like a crunch relegation clash where neither side wanted to lose more than a title battle.

That's been the case with our own support a fair whack this season too - even when we were winning to be fair. But I was expecting the away end to be jumping like the home end was at Forthbank last month with constant 'we are going up' or '10 clear and you fucked it up' type chants. But there wasn't really any of that.

I’m not sure if this resonates with anyone else but I felt that the euphoria of the last minute winner on Saturday knocked the stuffing out of the support a bit. That for me felt like the moment we won the league. Also, there isn’t a “singing section” at Stirling, but the folk that are likely to sing were split up across the stand - I think there’s something in that too. 

I really don’t understand some Dumbarton fans confused at why we didn’t celebrate more last night. Yes, we all but won the league but we also mathematically didn’t win the league. The prospect of winning it at home now - which I believe we’ve never done before - is very appealing. 

I think the P&B bubble can be weird sometimes and I think there is a perception amongst Dumbarton fans that there’s some sort of hatred for Dumbarton amongst us. I genuinely don’t think there is and I think that’s also why folk weren’t “getting it right up ye” last night. 
 

Given the circumstances surrounding this fixture, every interaction I’ve had with Dumbarton fans on the 40 times I’ve made the trip this season has been decent. I wish yous all the best in the play-offs but also wouldn’t be upset if I don’t have to go to the Rock again for a few seasons 

[unitedbino]

1 minute ago, Snoddyisabino said:

I’m not sure if this resonates with anyone else but I felt that the euphoria of the last minute winner on Saturday knocked the stuffing out of the support a bit.

100% this. Felt like Saturday at Stenny was our 'we've won it' moment

[FifeSons]

This thread must be longer than any side's own 2022-23 season one (barring Sorrow, of course). That Forfar guy's head will be exploding.

Edited April 19, 2023 by FifeSons

[FifeSons]

7 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

 I don't think he did. He wouldn't be wrong mind you...! When was the last time we still had a mathematical chance of winning the league with three games left?!

I now hope he did just to troll!

[Mattie1880]

19 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

In amongst you wet wipes?

 

[BB_Bino]

1 hour ago, StewartyMac said:

Its what happens when loads of glory hunters are there. Was the same at Forthbank in the decider in 1995. The hardcore fans were split up all over the away stand. 

 

Yeah, that certainly didn't help. In the Stenny & Dumbarton games, listening to some of the conversations around me by these glory hunting experts is a little cringe to say the least, but hey ho, it is what it is I suppose. I'm surprised the atmosphere has come under a bit of critisim, it wasn't on par with Stenny but I thought for long periods of the first half it was vibrant and when the team come off at the end, it was as well. Although maybe it's one of those things where it's louder when you are amongst it.

I honestly feel like last night was a game that just didn't quite happen. I think Dumbarton set out not to loose the match and when you do that on a pitch as tight as the one that Farrell has marked out, then it's going to be difficult. First Half, there were a couple of half chances, headers from corners that Thomson and McLean probably should have done better with but that was probably it, think it was mission accomplished by Dumbarton.

As soon as the Second Half started we seem to be on the back foot. There was various shouts of "dig in" from Pabs, McGeachie and others and that's simply what we had to do. Once riding the storm, although Currie not really having a save to make, the legs seemed to have gone a bit and the game looked to be one that both teams would have been happy not to loose and I personally think that was fair enough. Sounds like an excuse, but like the opening day, we simply struggled to find space on the pitch for our more influential forward players to open teams up and I didn't see the point of going "gung-ho" and leaving ourselves exposed when we are in the driving seat for the title anyway.

Can't believe the Ref missed McNiffs handball, looking at the still frame though, maybe he's thinking it's in a natural position but he definitely go away with one there. Thought he was actually one of a number of Dumbarton players that played well, couldn't really hear who had been given MOTM but for me Orsi was the best Dumbarton player by a mile.

From our own perspective, I thought a number of players just looked shattered in the Second Half, which is understandable given the schedule they have had. Few supporters behind me were screaming for DY to "change it" from about the 60th minute mark but I was really unsure in what he could do to change it. One change I would have made in the Second Half was Ross Davidson, he really was having a nightmare out there, but looking on the bench, who was the obvious replacement if the message was to "dig in"? Thankfully Dumbarton weren't good enough to exploit it, and in a more open pitch on Saturday but in another tough game, maybe the likes of Cooper, Spence, Denholm and Dunsmore could come on if the flow of the game is the same.

[BB_Bino]

PS - On the singing and the crowd. Don't forget, a large section of us had lost our voices in the first half yesterday after singing so much at the Stenny game. I know I had lost mine and alot of the lads in the vocal section behind me had also become very hoarse quickly.

[WattersIsGod]

22 minutes ago, BB_Bino said:

From our own perspective, I thought a number of players just looked shattered in the Second Half, which is understandable given the schedule they have had. Few supporters behind me were screaming for DY to "change it" from about the 60th minute mark but I was really unsure in what he could do to change it. One change I would have made in the Second Half was Ross Davidson, he really was having a nightmare out there, but looking on the bench, who was the obvious replacement if the message was to "dig in"?

Exactly. There was no obvious replacement and 2nd half especially i too thought davidson wasn't having his best game.

Orsi was good. Very impressed.

Atmosphere in our end was better first half but definitely got a bit tense 2nd half.

There have been so many last minute goals and excitement in the unbeaten run that I think it did just all seem a bit anti climatic.

I've believed since the last minute winner in the home bonnyrigg game that we were going to win the league and now just want it confirmed.

Edited April 19, 2023 by WattersIsGod

[miketheheadlesschicken]

Last night was always going to be an anti-climax if we didn’t win and it felt especially so after a drab 0-0. It feels like we’ve been pretty much guaranteed to win the league for a few weeks since Dumbarton chucked it so last night didn’t change much.

[BinoBalls]

The level of celebration is always going to be relative to expectation level. Saturday was an explosion of euphoria… crazy scenes behind the goal, everyone knew then we were almost certainly champions and that we had plenty of games left to do it.
 

Last night we quite didn’t manage to seal it. Any other club’s fans in exactly the same situation would have reacted the same, the notion that 600 people didn’t behave the “right” way is ridiculous. 

The management didn’t celebrate, the players didn’t celebrate, the Twitter guy didn’t celebrate and the fans didn’t celebrate.

But somehow we’re all wrong and a couple of Dumbarton fans know best? Aye whatever. 

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

1 hour ago, Snoddyisabino said:

 

I think the P&B bubble can be weird sometimes and I think there is a perception amongst Dumbarton fans that there’s some sort of hatred for Dumbarton amongst us. I genuinely don’t think there is and I think that’s also why folk weren’t “getting it right up ye” last night. 

The relentless commenting from Stirling fans and wee fuds on any social media post  we make (and trust me, it has been relentless) would suggest the wee pellets in your support are trying to drum up some sort of rivalry that doesn’t exist and I really expected to hear it last night. P&B is a very small minority of both supports (although you do have a few zoomers on here such as @DCismyhero) and I’d take a guess that social media is a better barometer of these sort of things. It might well be that these wee tits don’t go to many games but a quick glance at their profiles would suggest they do - maybe they aren’t allowed to do away games on a school night. I should add we also have a couple of wee guys who behave in a similar manner as was highlighted on this very thread a few pages back.

[Raving On]

1 hour ago, Snoddyisabino said:

I’m not sure if this resonates with anyone else but I felt that the euphoria of the last minute winner on Saturday knocked the stuffing out of the support a bit. That for me felt like the moment we won the league.

Definitely this for me. Last night we went to 99.9% certain of winning the league having gone into the game 98% of winning it. It's not like there was a seismic shift in our fortunes like it felt with the last-minute winner at Ochilview.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

4 minutes ago, BinoBalls said:

Last night we quite didn’t manage to seal it. Any other club’s fans in exactly the same situation would have reacted the same, the notion that 600 people didn’t behave the “right” way is ridiculous. 

The management didn’t celebrate, the players didn’t celebrate, the Twitter guy didn’t celebrate and the fans didn’t celebrate.

But somehow we’re all wrong and a couple of Dumbarton fans know best? Aye whatever. 

Calm doon a handful of folk commented that they expected more of a celebration which is a fairly normal thing to expect when only a miracle or a deliberate move to chuck the title (which still probably wouldn’t work) is now the only thing in your way.

[WattersIsGod]

Think it's also got a lot to do with way the game went. It kind of petered out in the 2nd half.

If it had been a draw with us equalising in the last minute then I think the reaction would have been different.