Stranraer 3 Dumbarton 2

IF there’s a way of going out of the Challenge Cup in style, then be sure of one thing.

At some point, Dumbarton FC will find it.

But they’ll have a job exiting the tournament with a greater collapse than they showed at Stranraer – a game which was in the bag at half time.

Goals by Jordan Kirkpatrick and Mark Gilhaney had them 2-0 up at the interval. A place in round two was sitting on a plate for them, complete with cutlery, a side salad and a glass of wine.

Instead they sent it back to the kitchen in a second half where all ability to see a game out was forgotten about.

A double by Frank McKeown, and then an injury time winner by Sean Winter, put the League One Blues into the draw for the next round.

Sons’ record in the Challenge Cup since its inception in 1990 is nothing short of woeful. Four ties have been won in its 23 campaigns – two of them in the same season.

Results at Stranraer over the years didn’t offer optimism ahead of this game either – one win has been recorded at Stair Park in 10 visits, dating back to April 1991.

However, there is no hiding behind either of those facts. At half time, a place in round two was there for the taking by Sons – if they kept their eye on the ball.

Instead they squandered a great opportunity to build on their heroic efforts of last season.

What should have been a satisfying start to the season – and was a satisfying start after 45 minutes – became a catastrophe.

It was after only three of those minutes that Kirkpatrick scored Sons’ first goal of the season. His cross from the left missed any sort of touch inside the area and crept in at the far post.

There was nearly more to come shortly afterwards when Mitch Megginson’s free kick was beaten away by the keeper, with Gilhaney’s shot from the loose ball saved.

The first half continued as a scrap before Stranraer found a way to goal, with Craig Malcolm intercepting 20 yards out only to shoot straight at Stephen Grindlay. Minutes later, the same player set up winter for a shot but the midfielder dragged his effort wide.

Then right on half time, Gilhaney got a break of the ball in midfield, intercepting from two Stranraer players who got in each other’s way. He ran in on goal and made no mistake.

Sons were in total control. All they had to do in the second half was see the game out.

And the early signs were promising enough. Half time substitute Archie Campbell, three minutes into his Dumbarton career, nearly finished off an excellent team passing move but headed over at close range.

But Stranraer were about to show they weren’t finished. After Winter headed wide, a McKeown shot from 20 yards also narrowly missed the target.

Then Jamie Longworth latched on to a through ball down the right, but after running in on goal, shot over.

However, on 64 minutes Jackson Longridge set up McKeown 20 yards out. This time the defender kept his shot low and found the net.

Even then, Sons could have made the game safe. Substitutes Bryan Prunty and Colin Nish were on the end of crosses by David Van Zanten within minutes of each other, but both were denied by the keeper.

And then they had it all to do again.

Thirteen minutes from full time, a free kick came into the area from the left and McKeown was in splendid isolation at the back post to head home.

From a position of absolute command, Dumbarton had to ramp it up again. Campbell had another opportunity with a narrow angled shot which the keeper blocked at close range.

The home goalie then blocked Andy Graham’s header from Scott Agnew’s assist.

Extra time was looming – until Stranraer completed the comeback that should never have been allowed to happen.

Adam Forde crossed from the right, and there was Winter with an acrobatic finish to do the rest.

What should have been a morale-boosting start to the season had become an early, and very harsh, lesson.

It’s absolutely true to say that this will all be forgotten about in the event of a decent league finish this season.

But Sons’ run in the Challenge Cup, which has seen them win ONE game since 2002, is starting to get rather silly. And boring.

Stranraer: Mitchell; Rumsby, Longridge, Pettigrew, McKeown, Stirling (Marenghi 79), Robertson, Gallagher, Malcolm, Longworth (Forde 73), Winter. Subs: Fahey; Russell, Aitken, McCluskey.

Dumbarton: Grindlay; Van Zanten, Linton, Graham, Gilhaney (Campbell 46), Agnew, Megginson, Kirkpatrick (Prunty 63), Taggart, Fleming (Nish 46), Murray. Subs: Lumsden; McDougall, Coleman.

Referee: Des Roache.

Crowd: 355.

Hamilton Accies 3 Dumbarton 1

POSITIVES to take; lessons to be learned.

The standard summing up of a pre-season friendly.

And in the case of Dumbarton’s 3-1 defeat to Hamilton Accies, absolutely spot-on.

Anyone walking into New Douglas Park with half an hour to go would think that the newly-promoted Premiership side had spent the whole evening exacting retribution on Sons for their 4-1 defeat at the Rock in April.

The first 60 minutes told anything but that.

Despite going behind to Mickael Antoine-Curier’s penalty, Sons levelled through Jordan Kirkpatrick and had chances to take the lead.

However, this was the lesson that invariably comes along every so often – you need to put the ball in the net when you’re on top.

Dumbarton didn’t, and Antoine-Curier completed his hat-trick as Hamilton finished the game the stronger side.

It was an evening when Sons, who fielded three trialists, deserved more than they got.

Aberdeen keeper Danny Rogers did his chances no harm despite conceding three goals, while strikers Archie Campbell and Craig Sutherland may get another run-out against Partick Thistle on Saturday.

Several signed players also looked in good shape ahead of the new season. Now it’s all about rediscovering the goalscoring form of last season – which they will do.

The opening exchanges were tepid stuff. Indeed, the opening goal on 17 minutes was the first opening forced by either side.

David Van Zanten clipped the heels of Jaison McGrath inside the area and Antoine-Curier made no mistake with the penalty.

Mitch Megginson, Mark Gilhaney and Scott Linton were all close to equalising for Sons in quick succession as they looked far from out of their depth.

And eight minutes from half time came an excellently-worked goal as Chris Turner’s through ball found Kirkpatrick.

Having already scored twice for Sons against Accies, who he played for as a youth, he applied a powerful right foot finish for his fourth goal of pre-season.

Still Dumbarton weren’t letting up. Megginson had a shot deflected off target late in the first half before, soon after the restart, Colin Nish was sent through on goal.

But after beating the Accies central defence for pace, the striker shot over.

Almost on the hour mark, Garry Fleming met a cross from the right but his header was blocked by the Hamilton keeper, with Kirkpatrick firing over from the loose ball.

Accies, fully aware of what a great escape they’d had, instantly ramped things up.

Rogers saved from Dougie Imrie and denied Ally Crawford from the rebound to concede a corner.

However, that set piece was the one that got the hosts back in front, with another Imrie shot causing a goalmouth scramble and Antoine-Curier firing home.

And with 14 minutes left, he had his treble, blasting home a loose ball from the edge of the area.

Sons nearly made the deficit a more realistic reflection of the game, but Fleming’s lobbed shot into the net from Kirkpatrick’s assist was flagged offside.

A 4-1 scoreline would have been extremely harsh, but Hamilton went close to inflicting it with eight minutes left. Eamonn Brophy’s shot from the edge of the area hit the bar after Rogers got a vital touch to it.

Instead Accies – who’ll do alright in the top flight this season – settled for three.

Ninety minutes of non-competitive action left, against Partick Thistle on Saturday. Then it’s down to Stranraer to start the real business.

Hamilton Accies: McGovern; Gordon, MacDonald (Watson 79), Devlin, Tena, MacKinnon, Imrie, Crawford, Antoine-Curier (Docherty 80), Lyon (Armstrong 80), McGrath (Brophy 53). Subs: Currie; Neil.

Dumbarton: Rogers (T); Van Zanten, Linton, Graham, Taggart, Turner, Gilhaney (Sutherland (T) 72), Megginson (Murray 55), Nish (Campbell (T) 55), Kirkpatrick, Fleming (Prunty 79). Subs: Lumsden; Donnelly (T), McDougall, McKerracher.

Referee: Don Robertson.

World Cup editorial

BACKING Germany to beat Brazil was easy.

Predicting how they’d do it was rocket science. Seven goals’ worth of it.

Football fans around the world headed into last night’s semi-final hoping to see a good game, even though the World Cup’s hosts were without their two most key players.

The team known as ‘Die Mannschaft’ were the favourites. But what they produced was unheard of.

One game away from the World Cup final, and with their opponents having the nation on their side as hosts, they delivered something never seen before.

And which may well never be witnessed again.

Events in Belo Horizonte were more akin to a youth or amateur match on the local playing fields, where one team is winning so convincingly that the referee calls time early.

But this was different. This was the semi-final of the blue chip competition of football, with millions watching around the globe.

If the referee had the option to call time early, as those youth/amateur referees sometimes do, he may well have done so after half an hour.

By that stage, Germany – who, before going any further, deserve every bit of credit for their performance – led 5-0. In the 60 minutes that remained, they added another two.

Brazil were out of the World Cup having conceded seven goals in one game. Only Australia, Cameroon and Honduras let in more than that over their three group games. Costa Rica – the team so many people thought would be on the first plane home – shipped only two in their five fixtures.

It was just something you’re not supposed to see in football. It could only happen in Escape to Victory, or something similar.

However, it wasn’t difficult to see Germany emerging as the winners, even if it did take a dodgy last-minute winner.

It’s not surprising that the injury that ruled Neymar out of the tournament was one sustained to his back. He’s been carrying his Brazil team in attack from the word go.

And Thiago Silva’s absence at the back? The results were there for all to see.

It would be different if everything Germany were hitting was going in the net. Just sheer bad luck.

But it wasn’t. It was all on show from Brazil. Shambolic from back to front.

They were one of the teams I thought had a chance from early on. Not because they were a vintage side, but because they were lucky enough.

And they’d certainly had luck. Beating Croatia in the opening game, a match that changed on the award of a soft penalty.

Goalless against Mexico. Four goals against Cameroon, but the Africans had nothing to play for by that point.

Within an on-target penalty of going out against Chile. Beating Colombia in a match their opponents dominated.

In fact, come to think of it, what must the two teams mentioned in that last paragraph be thinking about the opportunity they just might have missed?

Contrast that with Germany, who had already dismantled Portugal 4-0 in the group stage. Lively from the start, clinical upfront – and a team.

Is there a better goalkeeper around right now than Manuel Neuer? A better full back than Philip Lahm? A better-performing goalscoring midfielder at the tournament than Thomas Muller?

As I write, we are just under two hours away from the other semi-final, between Argentina and the Netherlands.

We’re either going to get a repeat of the 1990 and 1986 finals, or the 1974 final.

Both teams head into tonight’s action with a marker not just put down. It’s making a dent in the field of the Maracana pitch on Sunday already.

To close this editorial, here’s a Dumbarton-related anecdote. The Sons fans arrived at Ainslie Park for the Edinburgh City game on Saturday with another game taking place on the all-weather pitch.

League One Forfar Athletic were playing Preston Athletic. The match was abandoned with 15 minutes to go – officially for heat reasons. For the record, it was warm for Sons’ 2-0 win over City, but not exactly Sahara-like temperatures.

It had nothing to do with the fact that the Loons were winning 7-0. Absolutely nothing at all.

Who’d have thought that three days later, until the last few kicks of the game, the only team to play in every World Cup finals would be on the receiving end of the same scoreline, in their own backyard?

But then…who’d have thought we’d get a World Cup like this one?

EXCLUSIVE: Lee to help Sons get into shape

THROUGH the week, Lee Mair’s life is all about, amongst other things, Insanity.

But a move to Dumbarton, to keep his Saturdays about football, made complete sense.

The former Dundee United and St Mirren defender is branching out into the fitness industry after many years playing full-time, becoming a personal trainer.

And last week, he became the latest player to check into Sons’ first-team squad for the 2014/15 season after being released by Partick Thistle.

Now the 33-year-old, who played the first half of Saturday’s 2-0 win over Edinburgh City, is relishing the prospect of playing in the Championship.

He EXCLUSIVELY told The Dumbarton Terrace: “I’m into health and fitness and it’s been a big part of my career in football.

“These days top footballers need to be athletes and I thought I would try to get into that trade.

“I do Insanity, Metafit – basically any sort of fitness class. I’ve now got more time to put into it and I’m looking forward to it.

“It takes place at St Mirren’s training ground in Paisley. They have an indoor dome and it’s a great facility to have for football and fitness work.

“You get everyone coming along, from young people to 55-year-old men.

“Dumbarton are a good part-time club and have been very professional while I’ve been here. The manager has done very well since he came in and is looking to improve further.

“It was good to get on the pitch against Edinburgh City because I’ve only had two training sessions with Sons. In the weeks to come, I’ll hopefully be ready for the start of the season.”

Lee is a former team-mate of fellow close season signing David Van Zanten, from their days together at St Mirren.

But another familiar face has just left the club, with assistant manager Jack Ross moving on to a youth coaching post at Hearts. Former Hibernian midfielder Guillaume Beuzelin is set to be confirmed as gaffer Ian Murray’s new right hand man.

Now Lee can’t wait to take on the likes of Rangers, Hearts and Hibernian – teams he has grown accustomed to facing in the top flight over the years.

He added: “I knew Jack well from our days together at St Mirren, but the manager knows Guillaume well and I’m sure he will do the same sort of job as Jack did.

“It’s going to be a tough league but I think that if you take Rangers, Hearts and Hibs out of it, everyone else will be looking to finish fourth.

“There’s not much between the other teams. Others might have a slight edge over us because they are full-time but it is realistic for us to compete with them.

“I think the quality of next season’s Championship was a big selling point for me to come to Dumbarton. However, it wasn’t just the thought of facing those clubs – it’s also what the manager has done.

“Part-time managers only have about three hours with their players during the week. Full-time bosses have several times that.

“So what Ian has done has been very impressive and I’m looking forward to being part of that.”

Edinburgh City 0 Dumbarton 2

SO, nine weeks after Dundee, here we all were again.

A handful of fans got their first sight of Dumbarton’s new-look team at Vale of Leithen, 48 hours before this game. But for many, this was a return to action.

And victory over Edinburgh City was as comfortable as the seats at the modern and spacious Ainslie Park, where the game was played.

Trialist Ryan Donnelly opened the scoring for Sons after half an hour, with Jordan Kirkpatrick adding the second goal after the restart.

Those could only have been two of many occasions when the ball hit the net in a game dominated by Dumbarton from start to finish.

But there won’t be too much concern about that. The main goal was to keep the players in good shape ahead of the real stuff starting in three weeks. In that respect, the game delivered.

City, who finished fifth in last season’s Lowland League, were stuffy opposition. They were more of a challenge to Sons than Civil Service Strollers were 12 months before, elsewhere in Edinburgh.

However, it would be wrong to pretend that this is the standard of fixture that Ian Murray’s men will encounter in the Championship. The next two friendlies, against Premiership sides Hamilton Accies and Partick Thistle, will be closer to that.

Sons trained right up to kick-off at Ainslie Park, usually used by Spartans, and had a shot from Steven McDougall early on which was deflected wide by a defender.

Colin Nish had a couple of opportunities which missed the target before ex-Airdrie man Donnelly got the inevitable opener on 30 minutes.

New signing David Van Zanten’s low ball across goal was flicked to the back post by Ally McKerracher and the trialist could not miss.

With three changes made by Sons at half time, the second half was more pedestrian, but the visitors retained almost total control.

Kirkpatrick, and then Mitch Megginson, had chances which narrowly missed the target, but midway through the second half the former had his goal.

He latched on to a fine through ball from Scott Linton, beat two defenders and finished clinically for a fine effort – his third goal in two pre-season games.

All that remained for the rest of the afternoon was what could have been a very early goal of the season contender from Garry Fleming.

A passing move from defence to attack ended with the striker’s shot being beaten away by the City keeper.

The job was well done. The annual day out in Murray’s native Edinburgh had once again proven a success.

On to Hamilton on Tuesday, July 15.

Dumbarton: Grindlay (T); Van Zanten, Linton, Taggart, Mair (Turner 46), Murray (Agnew 68), McDougall (Gilhaney 46), McKerracher (Kirkpatrick 46), Nish (Fleming 70), Donnelly (T) (Smith (T) 78), Megginson. Sub: Lumsden.

Referee: Evan Cairns.

Crowd: Circa 100.