Castle frustrated by the unbeaten Accies
Doune side fall short with defensive set-backs
Doune Castle .............. 0 Dumbarton Ac ............ 2
Two moments of defensive slackness cost the Castle dearly as a clinical Dumbarton side took full advantage to maintain their unbeaten record and preserve their position at the top of the Caledonian League Premier Division table.
The visitors made it 1-0 after six minutes when the Castle defence failed to react to a short corner and McDonald took full advantage to head home from close range.
Castle had a strong penalty claim after nine minutes when a defender looked to have handled a shot from Lukasz Duszynski.
Keeper Steve Balmer made a crucial block to deny Accies a second goal and moments later the crossbar came to his rescue when he was beaten by a first-time volley.
Duszynski came close with an angled effort but Dumbarton remained 1-0 ahead at the interval.
Doune came close to equalising after 48 minutes. Duszynski set himself up perfectly to hitch-kick a spectacular first-time volley that beat the keeper all ends up but crashed off the bar and ricocheted to safety.
With the game evenly poised, after 57 minutes a second defensive error gifted Dumbarton the opportunity to extend their lead.
A misunderstanding in the Castle defence saw the ball break kindly to MacDonald on the edge of the area and he clipped a shot beyond Balmer and into the net.
A tightly-drilled and well organised Dumbarton side then effectively stifled the game, breaking play cleverly to ensure there was little opportunity for a Castle fightback.
Doune did apply some sustained pressure in the dying minutes, but rarely looked likely to snatch any kind of lifeline.
The Castle were left frustrated they had more than matched the league leaders for long periods of the game and had contributed to their own downfall.
Doune Castle: S Balmer, J Balmer (Docherty), More, C Dougherty, Feaks, Burns, A Innes (Coubrough), McClure, McClymont (Stewart), Inglis, Duszynski Substitutes: Burke, Gallagher