Dumbarton 1-2 East Fife - Fifers punish slack Sons ahead of Peterhead clash

First foots East Fife left Dumbarton with all three points, as Sons’ home struggles continued.

Brogan Walls’ 71st minute strike proved to be the winner, arriving just five minutes after Michael Ruth’s tap-in had clawed the Sons level.

And boss Stevie Farrell was left frustrated - as his side saw four efforts cleared off the line, and had a strong penalty claim waved away by referee Duncan Williams.

The frustrated boss said: “We weren’t good enough in the first-half. We were so far off it and I think Ryan Blair was probably the only player who got pass marks.

“Credit to the players. They took their medicine at half-time, and I’m disappointed to lose the game because we played well in the second-half and I felt we deserved more.

“We created chance after chance and had a stonewall penalty turned down.

“I’ve been in to see the referee (Duncan Williams) because there is obviously a problem between Dumbarton Football Club and that referee in my opinion. So we need to try and have a chat about that.

“I was really pleased with the second-half. The first-half wasn’t good enough.”

Ahead of a busy week, Farrell shuffled his pack - with David Wilson, Ryan Wallace and Carlo Pignatiello returning to the side. Kalvin Orsi, Blair Malcolm and leading scorer Tony Wallace dropped to the bench.

On a pitch that looked to have only just thawed enough to be playable, the opening exchanges were scrappy - with both sides struggling with the bobbly, quick surface.

A dipping Jack Healy strike that flashed narrowly over the bar was the only opportunity of note in a dire first half hour.

That was a warning sign for Sons however, who fell behind soon after.

Keeper Harry Broun misjudged a high cross, with Sons failing to clear the danger further than