Diamonds rock Sons

DUMBARTON.................................0 AIRDRIEONIANS............................1 Airdrieonians boss Ian Murray dismissed any claims that a contentious ruled-out goal by Dumbarton was over the line.

Paul McKay had given the Diamonds the lead before Stuart Carswell appeared to have immediately levelled the game.

However, the officials felt the fury of the fans at The Rock as they waved away the strike.

After the final whistle, Murray said:“The players had to dig deep at points and I was really happy with our attitude, desire and the clean sheet at home as well.”

He went on:“I could see clearly that the ball wasn’t over the line.

“The linesman got a bit of stick but it’s a good yard in front of the line.

“The ball wasn’t over the line, it’s as simple as that. I don’t feel like much has fallen for us, and we don’t moan about it. Over the piece of the match there wasn’t too many contentious decisions for the referee to make.”

Kyle MacDonald’s corner was only cleared to the edge of the area and McKay hammered the ball beyond Conor Brennan via the crossbar.

Sons man Carswell looked to get enough on a low effort to squeeze the ball beyond David Hutton and into the net, only for referee Steven Kirkland and his assistant to remain unmoved – despite the celebrations of the home support.

The best chance for the home side came in the final minute of injury time, when Matthew Shiels looked destined to draw his side level, only to be denied by a stunning low Hutton save.

Murray praised goalkeeper for handling the pressure of returning Scott Gallacher sitting on the bench:“Hutts [David Hutton] has made another great save at the end there as well, and that’s what he is there for.

“One day it will be defender, one day it will be a striker who helps us out.

“I think David was under a little bit of pressure with Scott Gallacher coming back and David certainly stepped up to the mark.”

Ahead of the clash with fellow full-time‘hybrid’side Raith this weekend, Murray added:“We’ve hopefully got our home form sorted out now and we’re full of confidence going into it.

“We’ve got a chance to seek a bit of revenge for last season.”