11/04/21

Dumbarton Reaction: Paul Hartley & Rory McAllister

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MANAGER Paul Hartley and goalscorer Rory McAllister spoke to the media after our 1-0 victory over Dumbarton at Balmoral Stadium.

Paul said: “I’m pleased to have claimed all three points.

“Dumbarton are a stuffy outfit and – despite the amount of games they have played recently – showed a lot of good energy levels.

“It was hard to break them down and we didn’t work their keeper as much as I would have liked but I felt we deserved the win.”

On the claims by the Dumbarton players that Rory’s shot for the winner hadn’t crossed the line before the ball was cleared, Paul said: “It’s a goal, it was over the line.

“The linesman had a clear view and it was good for Rory to get the goal, I though he was excellent.

“This is the business end of the season and it’s about finding ways of winning and getting points on the board, so well done to the players for managing to do that.

“It was another clean sheet too.

“We now have the best defensive record in the division.

“It’s a tough league, so well done to the players for managing to do that.”

Rory, who claimed his seventh goal of the season with his 54th minute strike, said: “The Dumbarton players were debating whether my shot was over the line but it looked like it was to me.

“It doesn’t matter now, it gave us the points and we can now look forward to what is a huge game against Falkirk next week.

“If we can win that one, what a chance we would have to make the end of our campaign really special.

“It’s good that we are at the top end of the table competing with the full-time clubs at this stage of the season still in with a chance of going up.

“Having been in a team that was relegated I can assure you it’s far better than being down at the other end fighting to stay up.

“It doesn’t matter how you get the wins at this stage of the season either, it’s about getting over the line.

“We have injuries and it gets tougher as each game passes, but you just have to keep digging deep, keep giving your best and hope you will get the rewards.

“I have to mention the save Stuart McKenzie made near the end.

“It was vital and an excellent one and underlined the value of having a top class goalkeeper behind us.

“Having nothing to do for most of the game then pulling off a save like that showed just how good Stuart is.

“Hopefully my goal will be enough to keep me involved, it’s been a bit of a stop, start season for me really.

“I feel I can get more importantly goals  and enjoy playing up front with Mitch (Megginson) so we will just have to wait and see how things go next weekend.”

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