Friday 26th April 2019
BACK in August, Craig Barr was hoping he wouldn’t be talking about the relief of survival in League One in April.
But although that’s how things have fallen, fifth place is still on the agenda for Dumbarton – and that is what they are targeting.
The defender set Sons on their way to a 3-0 victory over East Fife last Saturday, making it a clean sweep against the Methil club this season.
Combined with results elsewhere, the win meant that Dumbarton know they will play their football in League One again in the 2019/20 campaign.
Mango admitted it wasn’t the outcome they were hoping for when the trail was blazed back at the start of the season – but one eye is on finishing this season strongly and the other is on improving next time around.
Speaking to www.dumbartonfootballclub.com, he said: “It is definitely a big relief. It was a super dressing room at the end when we knew the results had gone for us and with a couple of games to spare, we know we will be in League One again.
“East Fife must hate playing against us but they’ve had a good season and can still make the top four.
“I don’t think it’s what we were looking for at the start of the season but you play the cards you are dealt.
“We have had a tough road in this division and with two games to go we know there are no more surprises lurking now.
“Six points over the rest of the season is definitely the goal. Sometimes with the pressure off you can go out and enjoy it and we can play some football in the next couple of games.
“We are a few points off the playoff places and that’s disappointing for the season, but we still want to finish positively.”
After finishing business at home against Stranraer tomorrow, there is one more road trip left this season to face Arbroath.
With the Gayfield club receiving the League One trophy that day, there is hope that Dumbarton might be better placed to have a go at the division next season.
Craig added: “We definitely want to do better next season. We now know what the league is about having not been too sure at first, and that maybe caught us off guard a bit.
“A lot happened at the start of the season with the changes on and off the pitch, but the players now know about the league.
“It’s not the outcome we wanted but there are two games still to play to finish as high as we can in the table.”
Andy Galloway