We welcomed Border side Annan Athletic to the Marbill Coaches Stadium for our penultimate match of the season — and our final home fixture at the Rock — earlier this afternoon.
Manager Stevie Farrell made five changes to the side that earned a point away to Montrose last weekend, continuing to rotate his squad as a testing campaign draws to a close.
Annan arrived looking to close the gap on Inverness and Kelty, aiming to avoid the relegation playoff — in what could have been a true six-pointer, were it not for outside circumstances affecting the points tally.
We kicked off shooting from left to right as viewed from the stand, but it was the visitors who enjoyed the better of the early possession, creating the first clear opening when Charlie Maxwell glanced a header just wide of Shay Kelly’s near post after a fine delivery from the flank.
We thought we had opened the scoring inside the first quarter of an hour, but David Wilson’s close-range finish was ruled out by the assistant’s flag.
The visitors continued to threaten, with centre-half-turned-striker Tommy Muir causing problems for the Sons’ backline. Kelly was called into action again, producing an outstanding reflex save to deny Muir from six yards out.
Scott Hooper then conceded a free kick wide on the right and was booked for the foul — but his punishment didn’t end there.
From the resulting set piece, today’s skipper Ryan Blair curled a beautiful free kick low into the bottom corner, giving us the lead with a strike that was both expertly hit and placed.
Chances to double the advantage fell to Kalvin Orsi and Wilson before the break, but both were denied as we went into half-time with a deserved one-goal advantage.
We kept our momentum going into the second half, with chances falling to Finlay Gray and Matty Shiels during a period in which Annan were reduced to 10 men following another yellow-card-worthy foul from Hooper.
The visitors would find a leveller; after forcing one great save from Kelly with a header, Annan substitute Tommy Goss beat the young stopper with a similar header from a corner, tying the match up on the hour mark.
There was then a lengthy break as a fire alarm went off within the ground, but we eventually returned to action under the floodlights for the final 20 minutes.
And the boys would start brightly, with substitute duo Joel Mumbongo and Tony Wallace combining to restore our lead — Joel holding the ball up excellently before spraying it out to Wallace, who beat two defenders and slotted home.
We added to our lead immediately after the restart, with Jinky Hilton making it 3–1 from a rebound following a decent save.
The outstanding Shay Kelly again showed his ability after Annan were awarded a penalty with ten minutes to go; the young stopper got down brilliantly to save the spot-kick and ensure we kept all three points.
We controlled the game until the finish, with young Zak Queen being denied a goal with his first touch for the club by a questionable offside flag.
So, a successful end to an eventful day — one that could have been so vital in a normal season.
We thank you all for your support at the Rock this season and look forward to welcoming you back in League Two next season.
For today, however, Dumbarton — at least on the park — were on fire.