Dumbarton boss searches for home comforts after League Two leaders snatch win
The Sons slipped to a third defeat of the young season in front of their own fans on Saturday - with the slick Spartans side capitalising on a goal right on the edge of half-time.
Home comforts are proving hard to come by for Dumbarton as they slipped to another defeat at the Rock on Saturday as leaders Spartans showed their title-winning mettle.
Bradley Whyte’s strike after 15 minutes had the capital club in front before Leighton McIntosh nodded in a leveller from a Dumbarton corner with ten to play in the opening period.
But veteran forward Marc McNulty restored the Spartans lead with four minutes until the interval - and Dougie Samuel’s streetwise troops saw out the contest to keep their spot at the top of League Two, even despite Cammy Russell’s second-half penalty miss.
It led to a third home defeat out of five matches at the Marbill Coaches Stadium for the Sons, which is the third-worst record across the division.
That statistic runs in stark contest to Dumbarton’s unbeaten away record, with Stevie Farrell’s outfit picking up 11 of their 15 points so far on the road - the third-ranked team in the division.
The Sons manager admitted after Saturday’s defeat that he can’t explain his side’s split personality so far, but said they need to find the right formula ahead of the arrival of Midlands League side Tayport to the Rock on Scottish Cup duty this weekend.
Farrell said: “Our home form isn’t good enough and it needs to improve. Our away form is where it needs to be. But we need to do something about our home form and remedy that.
“That starts with defending better. But there’s no excuse, you can put it down to whatever you want. The grass is green and the ball is round. That’s the same at home or away.
“I think some of the football we played in the first half was very good. There’s no excuse. I don’t know if it’s now in the players’ heads because we’re on a bad run. There’s no magic formula, we just have to get back on the training ground, work hard and put it right.
Despite expressing frustration about the sloppy concession of the Spartans goals, Farrell was confident about his team’s level of performance against a Spartans team who have won all five matches away from home this season.
“We were disappointed being down 2-1 if I’m honest and I think we’ve played worse than that and got points out of it. We were the better side, created more chances and were on the front foot so that was a pleasing part of it”, Farrell continued.
“I thought the two strikers caused them problems, but we cannot defend like that on the transitions. You’re giving yourself a mountain to climb with the two goals; the first is just a corner that bounces about and is a great hit.
“But the second is just so disappointing because we have a three versus two and they still get in with Russell and McNulty.
“We huffed and puffed in the second half and had good moments, there wasn’t much between the teams but it’s been nip-and-tuck all season and we’ve come out well sometimes this season but Spartans did what they needed today.”