Sunday 31st January 2016
MARK DOCHERTY has already caught two keepers by the ultimate surprise with his corner technique this season.
But making it a hat-trick this Saturday, when Dumbarton play Dundee, would easily top the lot.
Because not only would it go some way towards causing a cup shock – it would also mean putting one over his old mate.
And the left back is going to spend the next five days making sure Dens Park keeper Scott Bain knows all about the threat of his set pieces.
The two were team-mates at Alloa, and Mark is hoping to put Scott in the same bracket as ex-Wasps keeper Andy McNeil and Livingston’s Marc McCallum.
Both have conceded directly from Mark’s corners this season, the latter being the only goal of the game when Sons beat Livi 1-0 on Saturday.
Mark said: “Scott is still a good friend of mine but hopefully he’s picking one out of the net when we face him on Saturday.
“He’s seen what I can do from corners when we were team mates at Alloa and I’m sure he’ll know what to expect. We’ll be having a group chat before the game and I’ll make sure he knows all about it!
“I also know Paul Hartley (Dundee manager) but he was the gaffer who released me from Alloa, so that adds to it for me as well.
“I’ve seen Dundee a lot this season. I watched their televised game with Aberdeen last week and they are a good side.
“Going forward they have players like Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart scoring for fun.
“But we’ve kept clean sheets in the last two games and we’re on good form. We’ll go into the game with nothing to fear.”
Mark’s goal ensured that Sons are now six points clear of second bottom Livi, who have also played a game more.
Dumbarton have also now taken 16 points out of 21 against the three teams currently below them in the Championship table – St Mirren, Livingston and Alloa.
And Mark added: “The games against the teams around us are the ones we need to take points from. We’ve done well in them and now have a decent gap.
“Today was a massive game as Livi would have been right on our tails if they had won.”
Andy Galloway