Opening goal against us was the wake-up call

Dumbarton were excellent in the first 20 minutes. They were really dangerous in the way they got at us and they got a super goal.

In hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened to us. It woke us up and we started to play as we can.

We got ourselves ahead but the third goal knocked the stuffing out of them. Dumbarton are a credit, year on year as a part-time team they keep defying the odds and they will again this year.

Even if they come into the play-offs, I’ve seen the teams coming up and I still fancy Dumbarton, with their quality, to stay in the league. You have to punish them when on top and we did that.

We could have scored more goals but if someone had said we’d score five against Dumbarton I would not have believed it.

We’ve said all along, Nathan Austin has a goal pedigree with East Fife and Falkirk. He got injured and fell out of the Falkirk team this year. We know he can score goals if we provide him with the ammunition – and we did.

He got his hat-trick and George Oakley also worked his socks off up front, although he didn’t get his reward.

Going into the match without three regular first-team players from the last month or so was always going to be difficult. But guys came in and made a difference – it didn’t diminish the quality.

Earlier in the season we had substitutes coming on but not really making a big difference, but they are now.

To turn in a performance like that, I was delighted.

George Oakley: Worked hard without goal reward