Arbroath1–1Dumbarton

Michael Ruth returned to haunt Arbroath, as his late winner grabbed a point for Dumbarton against the league leaders.

 

A cagey game in the Gayfield sun saw ex-Son Sam Stanton give the hosts an early lead, but both teams found chances at a premium - until Ruth got on the end of a superb Craig McGuffie pass four minutes from time to ensure the spoils were shared.

 

And boss Stevie Farrell paid tribute to his players for a strong showing against the title favourites.

 

Farrell said: “The team has been playing well, we’re in every single game. We’ve played Arbroath, drawn twice and both teams have beaten each other once.

 

“To come up here nobody fancied us apart from ourselves and our own fans. We’ve been on the wrong end of the fine lines and we thoroughly deserved what we got over the piece.”

 

He made four changes to the side which had lost against Inverness in heartbreaking circumstances seven days earlier.

 

Matty Shiels dropped out with a knock, whilst Ryan Blair, Craig McGuffie and Joel Mumbongo found themselves on the bench.

 

Cammy Clark, Sena Niang, Jinky Hilton and talisman Ruth returned to the starting lineup.

 

Going into the game, Sons had kept just one clean sheet in their 28 league matches, and that run stretched to 29 inside the opening 10 minutes.

 

Callum Penman swung in a cross from the right which found the totally unmarked Sam Stanton, and the Raith Rovers loanee - a star for the Sons during their time in the Championship - had the simplest of tasks to guide the ball beyond Milosz Sliwinski and into the net.

 

That was as good as it got excitement wise for the opening 20 minutes, as both sides struggled to put together any passages of play.

 

Dumbarton’s first chance saw strong play from Jinky Hilton create an opening for Michael Ruth, but he trundled an effort wide of the post.

 

At the other end, Sliwinski was then alert to save from Andy Winter at close range - before Aron Lynas cleared an Aaron Muirhead header off the line.

 

The second-half started with Sons looking the more threatening, but both Finlay Gray and Michael Ruth found themselves crowded out by a resolute Lichties backline.

 

Only the perfectly placed Mark Durnan then prevented it being 2-0 as he hacked a Winter effort off the line, before Sliwinski sharply denied Fraser Taylor with his legs from a tight angle.

 

With 20 minutes remaining, Sons boss Farrell turned to his bench - introducing Craig McGuffie and Kalvin Orsi for the tiring Hilton and Mikey Miller.

 

And that looked to breathe new life into the game, with McGuffie almost going close immediately - but seeing an effort blocked after dancing his way into the area.

 

Further attacking reinforcements then arrived in the shape of Tony Wallace, David Wilson and Joel Mumbongo, as Sons went all-out for a leveller that would prevent automatic relegation being confirmed on the day.

 

It almost had the opposite impact, as strong play from Stanton sent Winter free - but he could only fire straight at Sliwinski, before the Polish keeper again showed safe hands to hold an effort from ex-Son Calum Gallagher.

 

After pain against Inverness, this time it would be Sons’ time to have something to celebrate in the dying minutes - as they snatched a late leveller.

 

Aggressive play from Kristian Webster won back possession high up the park, and he found Craig McGuffie.

 

The creative midfielder spotted Ruth peeling off the shoulder of a defender, and curled the perfect pass around the Lichties’ defence - with Ruth slotting beyond Aidan McAdams in the home goal for his ninth of the campaign.

 

Gallagher glanced an injury time header wide at the other end, whilst things could’ve been even better for Sons as Joel Mumbongo looked to free strike-partner Ruth, but he took one touch too many and conceded a foul as the points were shared.