Sunday 21st June 2020
WE continue to close in on the business end of our countdown of the Rock’s 100 greatest games, with numbers 35 to 31 now online.
The countdown has been worked out by average positions allocated to games by supporters Graeme Robertson, Jack Crawford, Fraser Clarke and Andy Galloway.
Today we feature games against only three different clubs – Ayr United and Morton figure twice and Inverness CT once.
Numbers 30 to 26 will be online on Tuesday at 10am.
35. Dumbarton 3-2 Ayr United – Saturday, November 13, 2010
A trialist comes in and earns himself a deal by scoring against the team he supported as a boy. It doesn’t get much more romantic than that.
The blue touchpaper was lit after 28 minutes when Alan Cook was fouled in the area by Jonathan Tiffoney. The Ayr United man was sent off, and Cook stuck the penalty away.
Nine minutes into the second half came the goal that sealed Pat Walker’s immediate future. A fine finish from the edge of the box gave Sons their second goal.
The cushion was halved after a further 12 minutes when Mark Roberts got one back for the Honest Men, but Dumbarton were not going to be denied.
With six minutes left, victory was ensured when Ross Campbell scored from close range for what proved to be his only goal for Sons.
Andy Rodgers got a second consolation for Ayr, but they were beaten.
34. Dumbarton 3-0 Morton – Saturday, February 19, 2005
Although Morton had won their first visit to Dumbarton this season, they remained haunted by…something we might get to later.
They had every reason to be, as Sons inflicted a convincing defeat that proved pivotal to the Cappielow side’s promotion chances.
It started in real style. When Paul Ronald collected the ball 30 yards out, few could have expected the netbuster he delivered. It truly was a glorious finish.
With three minutes left to half time came the vital second goal. Future rock star James Allan delivered a corner into the box which Iain Russell put away at close range.
Allan may be more accustomed to being a lead singer than an assister, but on 67 minutes he did the trick again.
His delivery found Russell at close range and the striker had his second of the afternoon, and Sons their third. Never the sort of game to be knocked back.
33. Dumbarton 3-0 Ayr United – Tuesday, August 13 2002
As many red cards as goals in this game, but it got Dumbarton where they’d never been before and wouldn’t be again until season 2017/18.
The Challenge Cup had never been our strong point but a win here would get us to the last eight. Against a team a division higher than ourselves, we did it in fantastic fashion.
The red card was waved for the first time on 37 minutes when Aaron Black fouled Mark Crilly, and five minutes later Sons were ahead.
Craig McEwan’s cross was headed in by Tom Brown at close range, and five minutes into the second half the shock result was really on.
John Dillon scored his first goal of the evening, and on 65 minutes Ayr were reduced to nine men when Iain Nicolson picked up his second booking.
McEwan became the third player dismissed with seven minutes left, but two minutes after that Dillon made it 3-0. It was our first quarter final in the competition, but that was where it ended, with a 2-0 defeat at Queen of the South.
32. Dumbarton 2-1 Inverness CT – Saturday, September 23, 2017
This was the clubs’ first-ever league meeting. Quite an achievement given that it had been 23 years since Inverness CT entered the senior ranks.
It was also their first-ever visit to Dumbarton, with us having travelled up the A9 to face them twice and come back beaten on each visit.
We were therefore keen to keep up the run of home wins in this fixture and did so despite the early setback of Connor Bell opening the scoring on eight minutes with an angled shot.
He could have had a hat-trick in the first half as Sons toiled, but the response after the break was emphatic. Two minutes into the second half, a header from a clearance fell to Dimitris Froxylias, who fired home.
And on 61 minutes, Froxylias tried to make it a double, but saw his free kick pushed away – only as far as Sam Wardrop to score what proved to be the winner.
They joined Stephen Dobbie on the brief list of Dumbarton players to score for the club against Inverness CT. Only Grant Gallagher has joined them there since, doing so later in the season.
Copyright True Scott Photography 2017
31. Dumbarton 1-0 Morton – Saturday, January 3, 2004
Even halfway through the season, Morton’s name was on the Second Division title in many people’s eyes as they made their first ever visit to the stadium.
They had gone through almost five months of league football with only one league defeat to their name, but were up against a Dumbarton side in decent form.
And it was Sons who made the right start to this game. With only five minutes gone, Iain Russell scored what would prove to be the game’s only goal.
Keen to preserve their unbeaten away record, Morton fought back and their closest chance was when Marco Maisano hit the crossbar.
But Dumbarton also had chances to extend their lead, with Russell and Steven Bonar going close to sealing it.
We had last won at home to Morton in season 1994/95. The two home games there were won late in the day. This time we did it early.