Albion Rovers 0 v 2 Dumbarton 
Division 3
10th November 2001
Albion Rovers 0 v 2 Dumbarton
Division 3
10th November 2001
Attendance : 420
Scorers ~ Dumbarton : Crilly (67), Brown (79).
Well, one thing’s certain. Performances like this certainly won’t win manager John McVeigh Manager of the Month for November!
This was a dour, unforgiving battle which largely failed to ignite the interest of the fans, and it has to be admitted that Dumbarton played their tactics to perfection as they took the points and jumped right into the fringes of the Third Division promotion race, at the same time a blunting Rovers’ aspirations in the same direction.
Few of the home players who have done so very well in recent weeks enhanced their reputations as they were chased and harried all over the field by their eager Dumbarton counterparts. Having said that, there were periods when it looked as if Rovers might just do something, but they were quite sporadic - and, in the last quarter of the field - less than penetrating.
When Sons’ Andy Brown was booked in the first minute for a less-than-friendly assault on Colin Waldie, it looked as if we were in for a battle but although another two visitors were yellow-carded before the end, it was really quite a tame affair. In ten minutes, Sons almost scored when a Brown cross to Mark Crilly was booted clear by Paul Bonar at the last moment, then a blistering drive by the dangerous Joe Robertson struck a defender and rebounded away from the danger area. A few minutes later, Crilly had his name taken for indulging in a bit of back-chat with referee Conroy.
Rovers were struggling to find any cohesion or pattern and it was the visitors who again threatened in 34 minutes when a good drive by Brown was turned for a corner by Chris Fahey. In one of Rovers’ infrequent attacks, Mark Booth headed a Bonar free-kick high over and after Fahey had to race well out of his area to boot clear from the onrushing Brown, a Waldie cross was headed over by Martin Harty. With the statistics showing that each side had just one shot on target in the first half, the fans had every right to feel aggrieved.
Within seconds of the restart, a good volley by Iain Diack was just too straight and flew into the arms of the waiting John Wight in Sons’ goal. Ten minutes later the dangerous Paddy Flannery shot from the right and Fahey did well to touch the ball for a corner. Rovers then began to contribute more in an attacking sense and after a half-hit Harty shot had trundled wide, the enterprising Chris Silvestro saw his 27-yard daisy-cutter turned aside by Wight at the base of a post. Then a splendid diagonal pass from Todd Lumsden released Waldie on the right. The wee man wasted no time in slinging it into the middle, but defender Jamie Bruce was on the spot to deprive Harty of an easy chance. As often happens, Dumbarton then raced upfield and scored. Rovers conceded an unnecessary free-kick thirty yards out and after a bit of discussion, Crilly launched a superb shot into the top corner past Fahey’s flailing arms. Once again, the positioning (or indeed desirability) of the "wall" must be called into question. It the ‘keeper can’t see the ball until it’s halfway towards him, what chance does he have?
Once again however, Rovers fought back and when substitute Ryan McMullan’s clever footwork won him space and time to cut the ball back to the waiting Waldie, the midfielder should have done better than shoot tamely at the keeper. Following further substitutions which placed the emphasis on attack, Rovers turned on the pressure and Silvestro had two tries which, with luck, might have paid dividends. However, when a team pushes forward in numbers, gaps are left at the back and on one occasion, a Dumbarton sortie saw five Sons’ players converge on a lone home defender, but fortunately for Rovers, one visitor carelessly strayed into an offside position and a great chance was gone. The inevitable was only briefly delayed however, as within a minute Brown collected a fine pass from former Rover Steve Bonar and strode in to hammer the ball past Fahey for number two.
That finished the game as far as everyone was concerned, with only Sons’ David Stewart managing to get himself booked in the final minute adding to the points of interest.
Albion Rovers : Fahey, Smith, Lumsden, Hamilton, McKenzie (McLean 74), Booth, Waldie (McKenna 75), Silvestro, Harty, Diack (McMullan 58), Bonar. Unused Subs : Easton, Shearer.
Dumbarton : Wight, Dickie, Stewart, Jack, Bruce, Brittain, Crilly, O’Neil (Bonar 57), Flannery (McKelvie 81), Brown, Robertson (Dillon 86). Unused Subs : McKeown, Hillcoat.
Referee : Steve Conroy
Man of the Match : Chris Silvestro
