Dumbarton v East Fife

[O'Kelly Isley III]

1 minute ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

A fairly horrible game to watch with very little happening. We looked like a team who were looking to see out the 90 minutes without picking up any injuries and East Fife looked quite content with a draw, which I didn’t expect given their current playoff battle.

Carswell does my tits in. It would’ve been good for Rusty McLean to get another goal before the playoffs arrive to boost his confidence a bit. If he thought about the team instead of himself for 30 seconds he may have realised that because with Byrne and Wallace both being injury prone we may well see plenty of big McLean in the coming weeks.

Pretty much as I expected from Sons, but I'm curious about your comment about Carswell - I thought he introduced some composure when he came on.

For a team competing for a play-off place East Fife were surprisingly anaemic and it was only very late on that they created a real scoring chance for Healy.  Had they scored the penalty it may have been a different outcome but they lacked a cutting edge.

[FifeSons]

Least we’ve got a bit of form back for the playoffs. 7 points and 3 clean sheets is a bit more like it.

I still think we’ll probably lose the semi if it’s Annan, and even if we get through, 4 games in 10 days would be too much for us.

Edited April 22, 2023 by FifeSons

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

3 minutes ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

Pretty much as I expected from Sons, but I'm curious about your comment about Carswell - I thought he introduced some composure when he came on.

It’s nothing to do with his overall performance, it’s to do with him taking the ball off McLean who was desperate to hit the penalty. It makes more sense to let McLean try and notch another goal than someone who, if he plays at all will be playing at the back. You could see McLean was playing with a bit more confidence today and I would’ve liked to have seen Carswell let him hit the penalty. 

[TamCarson]

100% Rusty has to hit that penalty. Goal last week, a wee bit about him today and he won the penalty.

 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

16 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

It’s nothing to do with his overall performance, it’s to do with him taking the ball off McLean who was desperate to hit the penalty. It makes more sense to let McLean try and notch another goal than someone who, if he plays at all will be playing at the back. You could see McLean was playing with a bit more confidence today and I would’ve liked to have seen Carswell let him hit the penalty. 

OK fair do's, it certainly didn't turn out to be a great decision.

[Silverton End]

Martin McNifficent 

[lorenzo71]

Great result that builds towards the playoffs.

Despite what some say we can Definitely win the playoffs as we are going into them with a fuller squad . Most injured players returning next week and given we have a few signed up the desire will be there( ok it should be there anyway because their pros but every little helps) to be playing in L1 as that will probably mean extra wages too.

Looking likely to be Annan which will be tough but it is winnable providing we have a reasonably  fully fit squad.

[Exiled Fifer]

Poor first half display from EF after the heights of last week. With the wind behind them during the first half, EF just could not keep the ball on the deck and the home defence just mopped up everything. In the second half, much better, resulting in a correctly given penalty for a foul on Shepherd. Good save from Long but a nice height for the goalie.  Ferguson should have made amends for his miss a few minutes later when he sidefooted instead of blasting it. EF were well in control up to the point but things changed slightly with the introduction of the 3 home subs and lo and behold took the lead.

That’s the third penalty that EF have been awarded with Trouten not on the park, and the 3rd one missed. Next up McManus please in a similar situation.

 

in the last minute, Healy had a great opportunity to equalise but decided to shoot instead of squaring to 3 teammates in the box. If he had scored, a hero now a villain.

I think the ref must have had a mindfart when he awarded Dumbarton a penalty for a fair and square Denham tackle, being the only person in the stadium who saw a penalty in that action. 
Having said that about a mindfart, he does make quite a few strange decisions, I’ve noticed in recent games. Get a check up, methinks.

Still all  to play for in reaching the playoffs.

 

 

[Jan Vojáček]

That was a fairly dismal spectacle and 0-0 might've been the outcome the game deserved. Although, if you had to pick a winner, then I'd say we probably shaded it. Especially after the triple substitution on the hour mark where Rusty McLean made a really positive impact.

Aside from a smashing bit of skill from Kalvin Orsi that saw him open up space before cracking the post, the first-half was really a non-event. Endless balls being overhit forward from both teams with the defenders strolling it and neither keeper having much to do.

It looked like the second-half would be more of the same too. And when Aron Lynas clumsily brought down Scott Shepherd in the box when there was no need to go near him, I was resigned to a 1-0 defeat with a penalty being the difference.

Alex Ferguson never really looked fully confident though, and made it easy for Brett Long - who had another very solid day at the office to take the outright club record for most clean sheets by a single goalkeeper in a season in Dumbarton's history.

That looked to act as a bit of a wakeup call. Faz brought on Ally Love, Stuart Carswell and Rusty McLean. Carswell added a wee bit to the midfield with Ryan Blair looking knackered, but McLean played exactly like he did when he used to cause us problems with Montrose and Peterhead.

A lovely bit of skill saw him roll a defender and test Allan Fleming from a tight angle, and he just looked to add an extra dimension to our play. It's the third game in a row where he's came on and made a really positive impact and that's a great boost. He's an enigma. But if he is finding a bit of confidence and form then it might just be coming at the ideal time.

The game was as ugly as they come though, and long throws were as big a threat as anything. Sure enough that's where our goal came from; Aron Lynas' throw, David Wilson's header back into the box, a cute flick from big Peter Grant and a really nice touch, turn and finish from Martin McNiff.

I'm really pleased for Martin. He's as steady and as solid as they come. A totally unexciting 7/10 almost every week, and a player who hasn't got the praise he's deserved this season. Faz described him afterwards as "a great teammate" and I think that's a nice way of putting it.

Not much happened after the goal until another nice Rusty McLean run and bit of skill saw a penalty awarded. Now. I've seen it back. And, at the time, it looked like a fair tackle from Sam Denham. And nothing on the stream changed my view on that. Ross Hardie had a good game today imo, but that was an absolute howler of a call.

Just as with David Wilson's last week, justice was done when Allan Fleming saved Stuart Carswell's effort.

I can only echo what others have said though. McLean should've been allowed to take it. He was playing with confidence and he had won it. Ultimately the result wouldn't make or break our season, and another goal could've done the big man a world of good. I imagine he might be on the next one given that's three straight misses now from Love, Wilson and Carswell.

East Fife really should've levelled late on when Aron Lynas misjudged a header and Jack Healy raced in on goal, but he decided to shoot rather than passing to two well placed teammates, and that was that. 

In terms of performances I thought we defended well throughout and never really looked in much danger. Brett Long was assured and read play well, dealing with everything that came his way in a drama free way.

Gregor Buchanan put in a typically robust performance, whilst big Peter Grant continues to impress. Not only with his defensive attributes (another 90 minutes where he didn't lose a header) but also with his leadership qualities and his threat in the opposition box. A second assist in three games for him.

I know there are mixed opinions on whether or not we should offer him a permanent deal but, imo, if we're in League Two next year then it's a no-brainer. He's been a top performer in almost every game he's started and he really does lead by example. Buchanan and Carswell could both move on this summer, and I don't think we'd get a better replacement for either than Peter Grant. I wasn't fully convinced when we brought him in, but fair play. He's completely won me over.

Kalvin Orsi started superbly but faded. And the same could be said for most of our attacking threats. Probably as a result of the run of games with an unchanged team.

Second place secured means we can enjoy the last couple of games. Building momentum would be great, but I hope we use the squad carefully - giving some players minutes (McKee, Wallace and Carswell especially) and resting others (Blair being number one). We're also needing to keep an eye on bookings; because Ryan Blair and Gregor Buchanan must be getting close to the 12 in the league that would bring a suspension.

Mind you, if we win the next two we'll match the points total the 2008/09 class recorded. Which would be fairly remarkable given the mood around the place now compared to then. I think that would also equal a club record for points in a season?

Good luck to East Fife for the run-in. They didn't really get going today, but I think they've got a good young squad and I'd back them to make it ahead of faltering Stenhousemuir and goal-shy Forfar.

Edited April 22, 2023 by Jan Vojáček

[microdave]

24 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

 We're also needing to keep an eye on bookings; because Ryan Blair and Gregor Buchanan must be getting close to the 12 in the league that would bring a suspension.

Mind you, if we win the next two we'll match the points total the 2008/09 class recorded. Which would be fairly remarkable given the mood around the place now compared to then. I think that would also equal a club record for points in a season?

 

Blair is currently on 8 bookings in the league with another 3 in cup competitions if that makes a difference. Buchanan is on 10 yellows so is close to a ban. Are they wiped after the final league match?

We will indeed equal the 08/09 points tally which is the record in the three points for a win era. If we counted every season as being three for a win then this season stands up really well in our history. We're currently on 1.69 points per game if we don't take anymore points this season. 

2.50 1891/92

2.42 1905/06

2.11 1971/72

1.86 2008/09

1.84 1991/92

1.72 1986/87.

The top six

[Big Fifer]

Can only echo the above, that was a horrendous watch for all in stadium. When the pitch is as bad as that, it was always going to be the team that adapted to the wind the best that would win and that was always going to be Dumbarton. Regardless of the conditions, we looked really slack everywhere across the pitch and never got going. Orsi had Newton on toast for most of the game and looked really dangerous. Referee had an absolute stinker, be interested to see the replay of the Dumbarton penalty because from the angle the Fife fans had, it looked an inch perfect tackle. Bovril was good, and Liam's distribution of the victory Freddo's to the away fans was a nice touch!

[Victor mcdade]

17 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

A fairly horrible game to watch with very little happening. We looked like a team who were looking to see out the 90 minutes without picking up any injuries and East Fife looked quite content with a draw, which I didn’t expect given their current playoff battle.

Carswell does my tits in. It would’ve been good for Rusty McLean to get another goal before the playoffs arrive to boost his confidence a bit. If he thought about the team instead of himself for 30 seconds he may have realised that because with Byrne and Wallace both being injury prone we may well see plenty of big McLean in the coming weeks.

Carswell thinks about himself too much.  As we seen last year with him opting to miss training to go to ibrox.

We will be glad to move him on this summer.

[FifeSons]

Hearing the East Fife seethe at our pen on the stream was enjoyable.

The DFC ballboys strike again to cheat East Fife.

[FifeSons]

13 minutes ago, Victor mcdade said:

As we seen last year with him opting to miss training to go to ibrox.

Was that ever confirmed? I thought someone claimed it, Carsy denied it and then the guy retracted it. Which isn’t to say it didn’t actually happen.

[sonsanorak]

I think we all seen Fazz tell Rusty to let Carsy take it, why put it any other way?

Carsy's been a good player for us and wouldn't be one I'd be chasing away.

[FifeSons]

18 minutes ago, sonsanorak said:

Carsy's been a good player for us and wouldn't be one I'd be chasing away.

Yeah, as decent as Grant's been, Carsy had a great partnership with Buchanan up until Kane caused him all kinds of problems in the 2-1 Elgin defeat (which was when Carsy was carrying an injury). I quite like having guys who have been with us a while, you don't see it much these days. Its a bit of a throwback to when guys like Martin Mooney played with us across three divisions. Not to say Carsy is on Mooney's level, but I think he's still got plenty to offer. I'd certainly be retaining him over Gregg Wylde.

Edited April 23, 2023 by FifeSons

[troy]

4 hours ago, FifeSons said:

Hearing the East Fife seethe at our pen on the stream was enjoyable.

The DFC ballboys strike again to cheat East Fife.

Do you not want to mention anything about Ryan Wallace as well ?

[FifeSons]

2 hours ago, troy said:

Do you not want to mention anything about Ryan Wallace as well ?

[fifer67]

That pitch is really something else for a professional football club. Hang in tight lads I’m sure a bumper crop of jersey royals will be with you some time very soon.

[troy]

2 hours ago, FifeSons said:

Is that your centrehalf Grant been told he can’t play in the playoffs?