Sons gaffer Stevie’s so proud of history-makers
Stevie Aitken praised his Dumbarton side after they progressed to the Irn-Bru Cup semi-final for the first time.
Chris McLaughlin and Ally Roy grabbed the goals but the Sons should have won more convincingly after Tom Walsh missed a penalty.
It was a miserable day all round for Rovers, who had Lewis Spence sent off for the handball which led to the spot-kick. But it was a great
afternoon for Aitken who said: “It’s good to get to our first semi-final in this competition. We knew it was going to be tough as Raith have been going well but we were dominant.
“We were outstanding and it was easily one of our best performances of the season.
“You can see Tom Walsh’s quality as he can take corners with either feet.
“Although we missed the penalty it didn’t have a bearing on the game.”
Walsh was a constant threat for the Sons despite missing the penalty and it was from his 20th- minute corner that Dumbarton took the lead.
Callum Gallagher’s knockdown found McLaughlin who stabbed a right-foot shot past Graeme Smith. Barry Smith’s side offered little threat but they nearly got an equaliser on 31 minutes.
Spence flicked John Herron’s pass to Ross Matthews but he shot over the bar from the edge of the box.
It sparked a decent spell for the Fifers but it was cut short four minutes into the second half when they conceded a disastrous second .
Iain Davidson was caught by Roy who stole possession and
raced through to fire a left-foot shot past Smith.
Things got worse for Rovers on 57 minutes when they were reduced to 10 men.
Spence used his hands to block Craig Barr’s goal-bound header and ref Gavin Duncan had already blown for a penalty before Mark Stewart swept home the rebound.
He sent Spence off but Walsh fluffed the spot-kick, allowing Smith to make the save. Gutted Rovers boss Smith said: “We didn’t do well enough in the first half and didn’t retain the ball enough which put us under pressure.
“As a manager you can’t legislate for what happens with the second goal. Iain Davidson was carrying a knock and he made a mistake and was punished for it.
“The pleasing thing is that we didn’t buckle after we went down to 10 men.”