A Bradley Whyte thunderstrike added to by Marc McNulty’s winner saw The Spartans recorded their inaugural victory at the Rock at the fourth time of asking as Douglas Samuel’s side claimed three valuable SPFL 2 points.
The sides walked out side by side to offer their support for the Show Racism The Red Card campaign, well received by the 665 supporters inside The Marbill Coaches Stadium.
With two draws and a defeat on the previous outings to West Dunbartonshire, Spartans set out from the start to shake that proverbial monkey off their backs.
An early opportunity fell to Cammy Russell after some enterprising work by Bradley Whyte however the finish gained too much upward trajectory and offered the ball boy a chance to stretch the legs beyond the perimeter fence.
A trio of Spartans corners shortly followed, dealt with by the Dumbarton defence as Spartans piled on the pressure.
That finally paid in the 15th minute. Another corner for Spartans was this time met by Ayrton Sonkur deep inside the box. Marc McNulty was the recipient of the nod before playing it back to the defender who saw his shot cleared off the line by what looked like an arm. That rebounded all the way to the edge of the box where Bradley Whyte produced an unstoppable strike to give Spartans the lead.
Spartans almost doubled their lead just before the half hour mark when Jordan Tapping intercepted a pass before releasing Marc McNulty in space behind the Sons defence. He latched onto the ball, raced into the box, rounded the keeper, only for that pesky Kristian Webster to have backtracked enough to be on the line to clear!
An enforced change moments later saw Kieran Watson replace the injured Jordan Tapping who headed for the sheds.
Just as the Dumbarton commentary duo discussed whether a change of corner tactics should be deployed to deliver a different outcome from the previously plethora of attempts, in came a Dom Docherty set piece which was met by the head of Leighton McIntosh inside a busy six yard box to equalise with ten minutes to play.
As the respective technical areas were formulating their plans for half time team talks, Spartans were to regain the lead.
Bradley Whyte’s pass found Cammy Russell who forced Shay Kelly into a double palmed stop. It came back out to Russell who leaped to help the ball onto the nogging of Marc McNulty and he added the extra guidance towards destination goal.
HT: Dumbarton 1-2 The Spartans
Three goals and a plethora of chances in the opening half had the fans wanting more. Save for an early chance from Mark Stowe that was met by Kelly at his near post, the well of opportunities had clearly begun to run dry in Dumbarton.
A cross from James Craigen into the home box looked to pick out Cammy Russell however he was sent sprawling on the deck before he had any hope of latching onto it. It offered the easiest decision of the day for Referee Birrell who pointed to the spot.
Cammy Russell dusted himself down, stepped up and leathered the ball off a crossbar that frankly didn’t know what had hit it.
Dumbarton rallied and Ally Roy’s effort from 25(ish) yards had the burners on but (thankfully) not the accuracy required to trouble Paddy Martin who went for the dive for the cameras anyway to dirty his kit for the day.
A double swap for Spartans saw Jamie Dishington and Ethan Drysdale replace Booth & Stowe.
Cammy Russell’s low drive late on saw Kelly get down to save at the base of the post as Spartans once again looked to put a little more light between the sides.
One final swap saw new recruit Murray Aiken replaced James Craigen.
After six excruciatingly long minutes of added on time, the final whistle echoed around the ground and the Spartans had broken their duck at Dumbarton.
FT: Dumbarton 1-2 The Spartans
Malt & Hops Man of the Match: Bradley Whyte
