42

The Rock

Saturday 3^rd October 2026

This is the second time that I have planned to visit Dumbarton and both times the opposition has been Forfar Athletic. I had bought a ticket and booked a train for their game in March but at the last minute the game was brought forward by an hour to allow people attending to also be able to watch Scotland vs Japan friendly at Hampden. My train wouldn’t have arrived in time for kick-off and whilst I could cancel it and get a refund the price of the earlier trains were prohibitive and so I ended up not attending.

As it turned out I missed quite a good game as Dumbarton came back from two goals down to earn a draw. That result was part of an excellent run of form towards the end of the season that saw them comfortably pull away from Edinburgh City and secure their place in League Two for another season.

The 2026 / 27 season hasn’t been particularly kind to Dumbarton so far. After a long and difficult campaign last year their madcap owner Mario Lapointe decided to stick with manager Frank McKeown much to the frustration of most fans. A slow start this year hasn’t helped to win round many fans and a total of nine points from the first eight games sees them sitting in eighth place. A similar season of looking over their shoulders rather than aspiring to make inroads towards the top of the league seems to be the most likely prospect this year.

I’ve already seen Forfar Athletic this year with my last new ground having been Station Park just a couple of weeks ago. They may have got a win that day but they looked anything but impressive. The three points will have helped to paper over the cracks but what seemed like a fundamental lack of quality suggests that there probably isn’t too much between the two teams. That could mean a close and entertaining game but it could just as easily result in some colossal dross.

One interesting fact about today’s match is that it would be the 5,599th edition of the unofficial Scottish Championship. This is both not really a thing and also exactly the kind of thing that I thoroughly enjoy. The concept is to imagine the Scottish Championship as something like a boxing title fight. The winners of the first ever game in Scotland Renton (who beat Kilmarnock on 18th October 1873) won the title and it is then contested on a game by game basis from that point. If the current holders win or draw they retain the title, if they lose their opponents claim it.

The last few weeks have seen these contests become increasingly surreal due to no-one’s favourite competition, the KDM Evolution Trophy. Mostly though it’s Hibs’ fault (as usual). Hibs were the holders at the time of their Scottish League Cup tie with Ross County. They lost and the Championship dropped into the lower leagues. This saw it on the line for a series of KDM Evolution trophy games including County’s loss to Aberdeen B and an existential crisis for the concept occurred. B-teams obviously aren’t real teams but rules are rules and so Aberdeen B held the title but just for a single game before a loss to Banks o’ Dee saw the title drop into the Highland League for the first time ever.

Cue much excitement at the prospect of Kirkintilloch Rob Roy vs Banks o’ Dee being a Scottish Championship decider and the title disappearing off into non-league football for a prolonged period. However Dumbarton had other ideas and spoiled everyone’s fun by beating Banks o’ Dee, again in the KDM Evolution trophy, and bringing the title back into the SPFL. Forfar Athletic now have the chance to hold the title for the first time in 15 years…

Visiting Dumbarton this time I decided to try and make the most of the long journey by arriving a little earlier and planning to take in a trip to Dumbarton castle while I was there too. This meant a slightly earlier start in the morning but the train journey promised to be easy with just a single change in Glasgow without even needing to change stations.

Of course Scotrail had other ideas. The train from Aberdeen was delayed for an unknown reason and time and with only 12 minutes in Glasgow to make my connection I began the day worried that I might not end up getting to the castle. Fortunately we set off only five minutes late and even managed to make up some of that time on the way. I made the connection without any problems only to then end up ten minutes late on a journey that only took 25 minutes. Still I was in Dumbarton in plenty of time to head up the rock.

The castle is actually at the bottom of Dumbarton rock with the higher areas a series of walls, outbuildings and, as I was to quickly discover, steps. The first climb is on the Clyde estuary side of the rock and gives great views back in towards Glasgow and out towards Greenock. With a good pair of binoculars you’d probably have been able to spot Cappielow.

I continued up the 557 steps to reach the highest point of the rock and while taking in the views and grabbing a few pictures of the stadium below us I got talking to another visitor, Alan, who offered me a quick geology lesson. We chatted for a while about the weather, our reasons for being there, and his time studying in Aberdeen before I set off for the other peak of the rock. Up there I met a couple of guys who had had the same idea as I had to fill the time before heading to the game. They turned out to be Oldham fans who were on their way home from some Islay whisky tasting over the past few days.

With time pressing on I decided to make my way back down and head into the ground. Without fail every single person I met who was involved with Dumbarton FC, either as staff or volunteers, were incredibly friendly. The boy watching the car park said a cheery hello, the security guard at the gate let me drink my can or Irn Bru rather than have to bin it, the woman selling programmes asked about my scarf and tried to beat Köln’s goat with Dumbarton’s elephant. It was repeatedly noticeable and made the visit so much more enjoyable as a result.

The only downside was that the social club were showing the last stages of the early kick-off in England when I popped in to buy a pin badge. That game turned out to be Tranmere getting battered 4 – 1 away to Chesterfield. I made a quick exit and headed to find a seat in the only stand. The ground itself isn’t the most inspiring. There’s no terracing so your only option is to sit and because half the stand is offered to the small number of travelling fans options are limited and it feels unnecessarily tight. The pitch is artificial, albeit brand new, and the best view around is directly behind you and so completely out of sight all game.

The game got underway with what I can only describe as the loudest sneeze I’ve ever heard from a man a few rows in front of me. If you’d told me the volcano under the rock had erupted I might have believed you. On the pitch Dumbarton looked like they needed something similar to shock them into action. They were wildly off the pace as Forfar dominated the early stages. After just eight minutes a really neat passing move down the right saw numerous players unselfishly opt to keep the move going rather than take a shot. The ball eventually worked it’s way out to Aaron Arnott who chipped a cross into the six yard box where Luca Perrie rose unmarked to nod home past Mason Munn to give Forfar a well deserved advantage.

Dumbarton were playing into a fairly strong headwind but seemed unable or unwilling to recognise this fact. Both the goalkeeper and the defenders continued to hit balls high and long(ish) only to see them hold up in the breeze and end up at the feet of Forfar players. They also seemed to have set up in a fairly unconventional 4-1-5 formation that conceded all of the midfield to Forfar. They were only too happy to take advantage of this and both Perrie and Ethan Crombie repeatedly ran through the space and often straight through the middle of the defence as well. Perrie in particular had a number of good chances and only a combination of poor finishing and quick work from Munn kept the gap between the teams to just one.

The Dumbarton fans were not happy and were quite willing to make their feelings known, both too the players and to manager Frank McKeown. Given he was sat about 60 yards away on the far side of the ground it highly unlikely he could hear. He certainly made no attempt to change personnel or tactics during the first half. Mid-way through the half Aron Lynas jumped into a late tackle on Michael Doyle who went down instantly, needed lengthy treatment and was bleeding from a cut just below his knee. The referee gave the foul but deemed it worthy of only a yellow card when it seemed to everyone else there, including a sheepish looking Lynas, to have been an obvious red.

Right before halftime Dumbarton managed their first clear chance. Owen Hartington picked up a loose pass and after getting the ball out from under his feet beat a man and shot from distance. Forfar keeper Neil Stafford was at full stretch when he managed to just tip it behind. Not only had the effort come out of the blue but it went against everything that we had seen from the home team up to this point. It was the first time that I started to wonder whether Forfar would regret their lack of composure in front of goal. With the wind behind their backs in the second half could Dumbarton show enough to get back into the game.

The answer was a resounding yes. Almost straight away they looked like a different team. It took a little time for them to find their range as going from kicking into the wind to kicking with it meant a lot of passes were overhit in the early stages of the half but the intent that had been lacking before was now evident. On the hour mark a cross from Robbie Cleary seemed to clearly hit the arm of Mackenzie Lemon in the box but both the referee and the linesman either didn’t see it or felt the contact was accidental. Following on from the missing red card in the first half, the Dumbarton fans were livid.

Fortunately it didn’t take long for the wrong to be righted. On 67′ Munn kicked long and the ball dropped to Scott Honeyman. He played in Doyle who delivered a very similar cross to that of Arnott for Forfar’s goal. This time it was Cleary who met the ball and placed his header nicely in the corner of the goal giving Stafford no chance.

Almost immediately after the kick off another long ball was misjudged by Matty Allan which allowed Leighton McIntosh to run in behind him. He collected the ball and his cross into the six yard box was spilled by Stafford. Hartington was the quickest to react and he kept his cool, taking a touch to set himself before firing past a flat-footed Stafford. Two goals in two minutes had turned the game on its head.

Dumbarton refused to sit back and instead continued to push in search of another goal that would make the closing stages more comfortable. New Celtic loanee Francis Turley had a strong run but he was pushed wide and could only win a corner. There were also a series of half chances from successive corners, the best of which fell to Tom Lang in the dying minutes but he couldn’t keep his effort down.

Forfar couldn’t find a way through until the last couple of minutes but even then they never looked like getting the equaliser. Dumbarton saw out the win that I don’t think any of their fans saw coming at half time. Frank McKeown was delighted and let out a primal roar as he headed down the tunnel. The Forfar players and management team looked a little shell-shocked at how the game had turned in the second half. I doubt the missed chance to claim the unofficial Scottish championship was part of their thoughts but you never know…

Back at the station I managed to get an earlier train back through to Glasgow meaning that I had plenty of time for my connection on the return journey. The usual slightly arduous journey home after a long day of travelling and wandering round wherever I have been watching the game was made much easier by the ability to watch first Hamilton vs Peterhead on BBC Alba and the North Macedonia vs Scotland on BBC Scotland. The time flew by and I almost managed to ignore the hordes of drunkards that joined the train at both Dundee and Stonehaven. Despite this being one of my longest days out so far it was probably my most enjoyable. The ability to add in Dumbarton castle and rock as well as the game has made me think that I should be looking for other opportunities to double up on future journeys.

The Facts

• Ground
  • The Rock
• Home
  • Dumbarton
• Away
  • Forfar Athletic
• Competition
  • Scottish League Two
• Result
  • 2 – 1
• Scorers
  • Robbie Cleary, Owen Hartington | Luca Perrie
• Attendance
  • 742
• Cost
  • £15
• Total distance travelled
  • 335 miles
• Transport
  • Train
• My MotM
  • Tom Lang, a difficult decision today as the two halves could have been from completely different games of football. Ethan Crombie was excellent for Forfar but Lang looked a class above most other players on the pitch. He was never flustered, won every ball in his own box, and nearly managed to cap the performance with a goal at the death.