DUMBARTON 1 Stirling (15) ST MIRREN 1 Hardie (41)

DUMBARTON beat St Mirren in both home encounters last season but came away disappointed not to have taken advantage of their visitors’ winless start.

The home side led after a dominant start, with Andy Stirling, a former Buddies youth player, putting away the opener.

But Sons were unable to build on the early positivity and had to settle for a point after Ryan Hardie’s equaliser four minutes from half-time.

Robert Thomson had a good opportunity early on, but his shot was blocked at close range and he couldn’t hit the target with the rebound.

St Mirren responded with Gary MacKenzie’s header which Grant Gallagher headed off the line.

On 15 minutes, Sons took the lead when David Smith intercepted wide and sent over a low ball which Stirling tapped in from six yards.

Hardie and then Stevie Mallan had efforts which narrowly missed the target but with half-time looming and Sons holding firm, the former’s luck was in.

After Jason Naismith sent over a high ball from the right, Hardie was unmarked to score against Dumbarton for his third different club. He has also found the net for Rangers and Raith Rovers.

Dumbarton dominated the second-half but failed to translate possession into chances on a regular basis.

Josh Todd couldn’t quite connect with Thomson’s ball across goal while Smith had a shot turned wide.

But with 12 minutes left, Martin kept them in it with a fantastic save from substitute Gallagher.

Sons got going again and, with five minutes left, Thomson got to a long ball ahead of the keeper. He looked to be impeded as he tried to place the ball in the empty net, but the ref wasn’t interested in the appeals.