The goals will come

THERE were five full Scotland internationals on Dumbarton’s pitch on Saturday.

And another of Rangers’ players that day has just been called up by the national team for the forthcoming internationals.

But even with guys like Kenny Miller, Lee McCulloch and new Scotland call-up Lewis MacLeod on the pitch, one man came away with huge admiration.

Garry Fleming may have finished on the losing side in a 1-0 defeat, but his performance for Sons was rated by many observers as the best on the park.

No official man of the match was named and ultimately, the forward’s only remnants of the day are memories of an unlucky defeat.

However, despite the result, there was enough on show from Garry and his team-mates to suggest a win is possible at Queen of the South on Saturday.

He said: “We were disappointed with the result because we thought we did enough to maybe get a draw out of it, or even win the game.

“We lost the goal at a bad time but it was a good performance by us and we were unlucky not to get more.

“I was very happy playing in midfield. I’ve been there for the last couple of games and am enjoying it.

“But all the boys played well on Saturday. Against the likes of Rangers you need to raise your game that bit extra and we certainly did that.

“Obviously you want to try and get as far as possible in the Scottish Cup, especially after reaching the quarter-finals last season.

“After playing Rangers the week before in the league we knew that we could go and beat them, but it wasn’t our day.

“Dumfries is a tough place to go, but we’ve gone there and won before so there’s nothing stopping us doing it again, especially with the performance on Saturday.”

As well as impressing on Saturday, Garry has done something in the last five games that none of his team-mates have.

Score a goal.

His consolation effort in the unlucky 5-1 defeat at Hearts is the only time Sons have found the net in that spell – but he’s confident the goals will come.

And he’s well aware of how the shooting boots will be needed in the games to come. After Saturday, Dumbarton’s next three road trips are to Livingston, Alloa and Cowdenbeath – the three teams below them in the Championship.

Garry continued: “We’ve deserved more upfront than we’ve had. We just need to get the breaks at the right time and we’ve been up against hard opposition.

“These teams don’t give you many chances and when you get one you have to take it.

“The goals will come for us. We’ve got players like Colin Nish and Chris Kane, who has been a big miss for us while he’s been injured.

“Scoring at Tynecastle was special for me. It was my first goal of the season and to do it in front of such a big crowd was great.

“We were just disappointed about the result but I was glad to get off the mark and hopefully I can get more as the weeks go on.

“The coming away games are massive for us. The teams round about you are the ones you have to get results against as they are battling down there as well.

“Hopefully we can edge them and take maximum points, but they are tough sides as well. If we play as we did on Saturday we should be confident.”

Garry also has his first-ever live TV game to look forward to on Saturday, December 20, when Sons play Falkirk live on BBC Alba.

He reckons that will be another occasion for the players to relish – and added that it hasn’t thrown the team’s Christmas night out into chaos.

He added: “I was wondering if we were going to get a TV game this season!

“I think a lot of people will watch it with the later kick-off. Some of the boys have played at that time before but it’ll be strange for me.

“The Christmas night out was booked early, so there’s no issue there!”