Tuesday 23rd March 2021
RYAN McGEEVER has been the subject of much attention since Saturday.
Just maybe not in the way he would want.
The incident in Dumbarton’s game with Forfar on Saturday including THAT clearance by Sam Ramsbottom has been in something of a spotlight since it happened.
So there could have been few players who fans would rather have seen scoring against Huntly on Tuesday than the big centre half.
Three minutes from half time, he put Sons in an imperious position with a 2-0 lead against the Highland League outfit.
It got him off and running for this season as well, having been a surprisingly regular goalscorer during the 2019/20 campaign before it was curtailed.
Speaking to www.dumbartonfootballclub.com, Ryan said: “It’s a really good result and that was the main thing for us tonight. Four goals and a clean sheet is a perfect way to do it.
“It was unfortunate what happened on Saturday and Sam and I spoke about it after the game. It was an absolute freak incident but these things happen in football.
“The chance to play against Aberdeen will be another good one for us. We played them last year and it was good to play in front of a big crowd that day.
“This time it will be different. Unfortunately we won’t have fans in the stadium but hopefully we can give a good account of ourselves.
“With the penalty in the last couple of minutes last season, we showed how close we can run them. We went up there with a plan – they had a lot of the ball and we were hard to break down, so hopefully it can be more of the same, with maybe a different result.
“It’s been a crazy few weeks. We’ve had no time to even think about the previous game before we’re back in action and we just keep focusing on the next one. You don’t have time to dwell on defeats – you just get your head down and look to face the next challenge.”
Saturday now sees Dumbarton face Peterhead in a League One clash at home, a fixture where Ryan scored the winner when the Blue Toon were last in G82.
It will be the third game since the season was suspended, a time which Ryan found frustrating.
He added: “That will be a big one in terms of the table. We’ll just be as focused as we possibly can on the challenge in front of us.
“They are five points ahead of us having played two games more, so a win would boost our position in terms of catching up.
“It’s been a frustrating spell, just not knowing what was happening. We were kept in the dark a bit and then it was just sprung on us that we were coming back.
“But the boys have kept fit and we are in good shape physically for the challenges ahead.”
Andy Galloway