Match Report

Ali Omar’s 60-yard stunner got Dumbarton back to winning ways against top of the table Elgin City.

The Somali defender’s moment of magic from well inside his own half to give Sons a crucial second after Robbie Cleary’s first-half opener, meaning Jack MacIver’s stoppage time strike was no more than a consolation.

On the back of three straight defeats in League Two, boss Frank McKeown rang the changes with keeper Harry Broun making his second debut for the club, Canadian forward Robbie Cleary earning his first league start – and Owen Hartington, Tommy Robson and Josiah Sowa returning to the side.

There was little to report from a scrappy opening half hour, with Sons’ back five staying firm against the division’s top scoring side – and Josiah Sowa in particular catching the eye at left-wing-back.

The diminutive Canadian had to be sharp to cut out an inviting delivery before it could find Kane Hester at the back post, whilst Kieron Willox tested returning keeper Harry Broun from a tight angle.

At the other end Robbie Cleary was looking Sons’ biggest threat, with his mazy runs from deep positions driving Dumbarton up the park.

The Canadian weaved his way to the edge of the box before delivering a cross that found no takers in the first move of the game that got the home fans off their feet.

Shortly after, his fellow Canuck Josiah Sowa showed great footwork to set Tommy Robson free – but there were no takers in white and gold for his drilled ball across the face of goal.

As the game moved towards half-time hesitation in Sons’ backline almost proved costly as Kane Hester and Ollie Colloty pounced, but Harry Broun recovered to snatch the ball from the Kiwi striker as he raced in on goal.

And that proved pivotal as Sons got the all important opening goal.

Deryn Lang’s clever flick found Scott Honeyman in space, and the midfielder slipped Robbie Cleary in on goal with a cute pass – with the forward keeping his cool to clip beyond the advancing Ritchie and into the net.

Stefan Laird’s side almost found an instant reply as a sharp move found Colloty in the box, but he lashed into the side netting as Dumbarton took a lead in at the interval for the first time in the new season.

The second-half saw Colloty threaten again, but his free header from a great position was weak and straight at Broun.

At the other end, more industrious play from Deryn Lang saw him pounce on a Morgyn Neill mistake and create an opening for Scott Honeyman, with his blistering strike touched over the bar by Ritchie in the away goal.

After Robbie Cleary had flashed an effort wide of Ritchie’s far post from the edge of the area, Sons got the second goal they had been chasing in incredible fashion just after the hour mark.

Lang was caught by a crude Kyle Girvan challenge on the half-way line, which was followed by a break in play as Scott Honeyman was replaced by Kai Kirkpatrick.

As soon as referee Daniel Graves’ sounded his whistle to restart play Ali Omar went for goal, lobbing Ritchie from all of 65 yards with a stunning effort that whistled over the stranded keeper and into the top corner of the net, sparking delirious scenes in the home end.

Substitute Leighton McIntosh twice went close to adding gloss to the scoreline; firstly being denied bravely by Ritchie one-on-one, before the keeper was at full stretch to touch a drive from the edge of the box around the post.

Sons’ search for just a second league win of the campaign wouldn’t be totally without drama however, as Jack MacIver set up a nailbiting finale.

The Elgin man worked his way into space on the edge of the box and bent a low effort around Broun and into the net. However, despite the visitors’ best efforts as they threw everything they had forward, it would prove no more than a consolation.

Dumbarton 2

43′ Robbie Cleary, 64′ Ali Omar
Yellow card: 16′ Mikey Doyle

Elgin City 1

89′ Jack MacIver
Yellow cards: 16′ Jack Murray, 63′ Kyle Girvan, 80′ Matthew Grant

Referee: Daniel Graves
Attendance: 689

View the league table and all results from William Hill League 2

Highlights

Post-match reaction

Match photos

View Tommy Hughes’ photos on Flickr