Dumbarton boss hails impact of tactical tweak in comfortable Tayport win
The Sons secured easy passage to the third round of the Scottish Cup after seeing off the Midlands League 2-0.
A tactical tweak was critical for Dumbarton as they secured a “comfortable” passage through to the Scottish Cup third round after defeating Midlands League side Tayport.
Goals either side of the interval from defenders Morgyn Neill and Gordon Walker sealed the victory as the Sons ensured they wouldn’t be in the headlines for a cup surprise.
Dumbarton boss Stevie Farrell switched his troops to a 352 system for the weekend win - and hailed the impact of the two goalscorers in highlighting his side’s threat all over the pitch.
Farrell told the club’s media channel: “The change in shape is something we’ve been looking at in our analysis; we know we’ll score goals with our set pieces and in general play but the one thing that has irked us is conceding too many goals.
“Someone like Gordon Walker can help us in that shape and he’s scored twice in open play playing the system, it was pleasing when we had worked on it to keep a clean sheet.
“He has got great energy, he has played most of his football for us and has been a regular. He’s up in the box within this space and that makes him a real threat.
“Set pieces are crucial in the lower leagues and our average corner count is up there with anyone in the SPFL so if we keep averaging that, we will get the joys from that.
The home side could have added more to the scoreline on an afternoon where Tayport rarely threatened the home goal, with full attention now back on the league for a visit to New Douglas Park and fellow play-off contenders Clyde on Saturday.
“In these rounds there will always be a shock. The challenge is to make sure that it isn’t you. You don’t want that publicity and negativity.
“It was all about us being professional and doing the job and we did that.
“In the first half they sat so deep and we didn’t really move it quick enough between the central midfielders and the front two. But we spoke about it at half-time, changed that and - with no disrespect to Tayport - ran out comfortable winners.”
“I’ve got to make sure the players get the right message, we’re unbeaten in six in the cups but it’s not good enough in the league but that’s something we need to address - we’ve been edged out so keeping our away form and making sure our home form is maintained is key.”
The third round draw was made on Sunday evening and handed Dumbarton a major potential banana skin, with West of Scotland Premier cracks Auchinleck Talbot set to visit G82 on November 29.