Dumbarton2–0Bonnyrigg Rose

Stevie Farrell joked he had no idea what Blair Malcolm was doing in the penalty area, after his first Dumbarton goal secured a 2-0 victory for the Sons against struggling Bonnyrigg.

Tony Wallace’s penalty and Malcolm’s late tap-in secured a thoroughly deserved three points in a howling wind on The Rock’s now infamous rutted surface. A result that sees Dumbarton move level on points with Peterhead in the League Two standings.

And boss Farrell saluted his players for a professional showing.

He said: “The conditions were horrendous and both sides deserve credit for actually putting any sort of game on. The pitch is what it is, but the wind just adds to the challenge.

“I felt we deserved to win the game. But we didn’t play with enough intensity in the first-half.

“In the second-half we looked the team more likely to score.

“We work the movement for the second goal in training constantly.

“It’s a great ruin from Finlay and he manages to pick out a great run from Malky - although I’ve no idea what he’s doing there!

“I was really pleased with the performance; and it’s a good three points.”

Farrell welcomed the fit-again duo of Carlo Pignatiello back to his bench, but unsurprisingly stuck with the same side that had defeated Spartans 6-2 a week previous.

With a howling gale at their backs, it was little surprise that the Sons started on top - albeit with the strength of the wind proving as much of a hindrance to the hosts as it was to their opponents.

Despite enjoying almost all the possession, Sons had just a wild Jinky Hilton effort to show for their efforts as move-after-move broke down when the wind got ahold of the ball.

The game began to heat up on 22 minutes as a high boot left Sons defender Aron Lynas bleeding badly from his head.

Bizarrely referee Jordan Curran didn’t see any issue with the head high challenge, much to the fury of the Sons players and those in the home end.

That looked to get the crowd, and home players going however and - despite their numerical disadvantage - Sons would take the lead as Lynas received treatment on the sidelines.

Tony Wallace was downed on the left wing, with Jinky Hilton’s free-kick inexplicably slapped away by Rose defender Josh Grigor, leaving Curran with no option but to point to the spot.

Wallace stepped up to calmly dispatch his 13th of the campaign from 12 yards.

It could’ve been 2-0 almost immediately as the lively Hilton picked up possession on the edge of the area and weaved beyond a collection of challenges before arrowing goalwards, but Paddy Martin in the Rose goal saved superbly.

Gallagher Lennon then had a header from Hilton’s corner cleared off the line as Sons continued to push.

There was still time for one scare at the opposite end however, with Lee Currie’s free-kick only half-cleared - and Neil Martyniuk slicing over from a great position in the area.

With the wind at their backs, Sons could’ve feared an onslaught from the visitors in the second-half - but they struggled to adapt their direct style to the gale force gusts.

Superb play from Michael Ruth created a space for Aron Lynas, but he fizzed narrowly wide from 25 yards.

Finlay Gray then twice got in behind the Rose defence.

First the midfielder’s turned on the afterburners to surge towards goal, but could only shoot straight at Paddy Martin, before another trademark run from deep saw Martin again gather - this time holding the Cardross youngster’s low cross.

But Rose failed to heed the warnings, as Sons made sure of the points six minutes from time.

Again Gray nicked possession and burst from the half-way line, surging away from a challenge before drilling the ball across goal for substitute Blair Malcolm to force over the line, ensuring another three points - and a second straight home clean sheet.