YOU have to hand it to Dumbarton.
There can’t be many teams who follow their poorest display of the season with an even worse opening 45 minutes of the next game.
And then come out after the restart and produce one of their best performances for some time to register a hugely important victory. But they did.
At Livingston they spent the first half proving that it is indeed humanly possible to play worse than they did at Dumfries last week.
They trailed 1-0 at half time to a Daniel Mullen goal when a side in better form than Livi, without a league win since September 13, would have sealed the deal. Indeed, only an astonishing miss prevented a two-goal deficit.
But this was the kind of fixture that the ‘game of two halves’ cliche was invented for. Sons were well on top of the second 45 minutes – and Garry Fleming and Mitch Megginson got the goals that mattered.
The day could have ended with Sons at the bottom of the Championship table. Instead, by virtue of Alloa’s 1-1 draw at Rangers, they gained a place to go seventh.
No-one is pretending that one good half, and one vital result, ends any doubt over the season’s outcome. Start next week’s game against Hibs as they started this one and Dumbarton WILL be beaten.
However, the second half at Almondvale was like flicking a time machine switch back to last season. A change of formation saw the football which brought Sons such success earlier this year.
As well being a vital victory, it was also their fourth win at Almondvale in a row – a run which started with a famous overhead kick.
But attacking the Bryan Prunty stand in the first half, Sons carried no attacking threat at all. It was grim to watch.
Fortunately Livi inflicted limited punishment. All they managed in the early stages was a Myles Hippolyte shot which rolled through to Jamie Ewings.
But on 28 minutes came the kind of incident which has been central to Sons’ problems of late. They had the ball in a promising attacking position – and lost it.
What should have been a chance for Dumbarton became a goal for Livingston, with the counter attack finished by Mullen’s low shot from 15 yards.
Eight minutes later it should have been 2-0, with the same player in splendid isolation in the centre to meet a high ball from the right. His header hit the bar, was adjudged not to have crossed the line, and was scrambled clear.
Sons went in at half time reflecting on that great escape – and how what they had produced was nowhere near what they are capable of delivering.
The second half started promisingly enough but still without a test for the home keeper. And then Livi had another moment when they could have sealed it.
Keaghan Jacobs ran on to a long ball and finished – but the offside flag was up long before the ball in the net.
Video footage suggests it was a close call, but what’s that they say about breaks evening themselves out? And after some of the penalties awarded against Sons of late, they were due some fortune.
And they were now on the move.
Scott Agnew’s free kick from the right bent narrowly wide of the far post, with Colin Nish and Andy Graham just missing the vital touch.
But there was another chance for Livi, with Ewings making a miraculous close range save from Kyle Jacobs. The seed was being planted that this could be Dumbarton’s day.
It was on 62 minutes.
Agnew’s corner from the left caused a scramble in the home area and Fleming – who went into the game as Sons’ only goalscorer since September – blasted in the loose ball.
A minute later Ewings again saved Sons, turning Kyle Jacobs’ shot from distance over.
The chances weren’t coming readily for Sons, but in terms of attacking threat, this was poles apart from the first half.
And after 70 minutes, Mark Gilhaney was away down the right and sent a low ball over for Megginson.
A loss of footing made it look as if the forward had missed out on his first league goal of the season. But he got back up and with a low, angled drive, put it away.
The last 20 minutes were nervous off the pitch, but on it Sons were strong. They saw off any attacking threat shown by Livi, and it transpired that their two second half goals were enough.
Sometimes victory doesn’t have to be convincing. It doesn’t need Shaun Maloney-esque goals. The points just need to be gained.
They were. Now to kick on from here.
Livingston: Jamieson; Talbot, Fordyce, Ky Jacobs, Ke Jacobs, O’Brien, Robertson (White 71), Hippolyte, Glen, Mullen, Rutherford (Ogleby 83). Subs: Grant; Praprotnik, Beaumont, Currie, Cook. Booked: Robertson, Rutherford, Mullen, Hippolyte.
Dumbarton: Ewings; Graham, Mair, Turner, Gilhaney, Agnew, Nish, Megginson (MacDonald 90), Taggart, Fleming (Campbell 77), McDougall (Kirkpatrick 85). Subs: Grindlay; Van Zanten, McLaughlin. Booked: Fleming, Gilhaney, Nish.
Referee: Stephen Finnie.
Crowd: 1,020.
The Dumbarton Terrace 