Leaderboard

Interesting game, just a couple of things to talk about.... 1st half Odd start to the game. Crusaders played some decent stuff for the opening 10 mins and we looked like a side who hadn't played in weeks. Once we got to that mark we took control though. Crusaders had actually started with a relatively conservative line-up with 1 up top and leaving Whyte & Owens on the bench. Despite this we were able to cut through at will with Polworth in particular finding pockets of space in which to play in Mulraney. I felt we were pretty wasteful at times and should have been 4 or 5 up by the time the half time whistle went. Even though we were dominating it was concerning how much space Crusaders were able to get down the right hand side of our defence. I lost count of the number of times Heatley/Murray found space in that channel. I'd really like to see us move Mckay back inside to partner Donaldson and new right back. 2nd half Not sure what was said at half time but the team came out thinking the game was done. No urgency at all and it bordered on being unprofessional. You can give Crusaders some credit for changing it up but if we play like that against a Championship team we will be on the receiving end of a shoeing. The sending off was a little strange. I'm pretty sure that for his first booking it was Vigurs that committed a foul, it certainly wasn't Mckay. In saying that though the 2nd booking was monumentally stupid. The Crusaders bench unsurprisingly had a part to play in that, Baxter is known for his whinging and theatrics to refs. Player wise: Ridgers was excellent as was Polworth. Donaldson was OK but seemed to spend time worrying about Warren. Bell and Chalmers despite his goal had poor games. Chalmers seems to let the game pass him by a little too much for my liking, never seems to take it by the scruff. Mulraney was dangerous as ever although the final ball swung from outstanding to atrocious with nothing inbetween. Oakley is a strange player, despite his size he can't win a header and struggles with his first touch. However he's a lot quicker that I thought, has decent movement and runs the channels well. I' not sure what type of player he'd be best beside. Glad to the win but we made hard work of it. If we hadn't held on we would be asking questions about the mental capacity of the side.

Did you know that there was also a second half?

I would hope with a post like that you are more embarrassed than Vigurs will be for his penalty miss?

That’s not the scenario RIG was dismissing, those loans were nothing like your proposed clause stating that if the new club ever loans the player out it can only be to us.

Now I haven't seen it back yet, but I see some fans on Twitter seem to think Mckay was hard done by for the red. I thought at the time he deserved it for gross stupidity.

Well there’s a lot to talk about after that. But in summary, it was a game of two halves.

I am sure the pitch will be better than ours!

we were night and day there first and second half. we could have went in 6 up at HT and in the second half we could have let in 4 or 5. We completely switched off that second half and very nearly paid the price for it. If i was Robbo i would be in the dressing room after the final whistle giving the team a boot up the arse! If we want to win the final we have to play a full 90 min game not just 45 mins. We looked like professionals the first half and a pub team the second. That being said its another final. So can the SPLF please not feck this final fixture up as much as they did the semi and give us traveling supporters plenty of notice to make arrangements or am i living in coo coo land where things make sense?

Congratulations all. I was worried about a collapse at HT but we kept it lively :)

Poloworth’s best performance for a couple of seasons. Hopefully he’s got his mojo back and can play like that for the rest of the season.

Oops!

Sorry folks but they have Heatley and a bit of pace which could trouble our defence BUT in general they are woeful. With the colours on show and the standards shown by both teams it reminds me of some Caley v Thistle derbies.

Pleasing first half. They had a decent start but it's as comfortable as I had expected. Polworth has been outstanding but thats partly a reflection of Crusaders naivety.

horrible weather, horrible pitch, horrible attendance ... but the scoreline looks good :) got Alba on the big screen and a cup of coffee so I am good :)

Disappointed not to see Doran but confident about a result. Pitch is utterly shocking. A complete embarassment.

We've had 5! And after today it'll be 6

Dumbarton’s first final since 1912, compared to our 4 in our first 24 years.

Absolutely not, but it is worthwhile using this already well established hubris to reinforce what was being said in the post in question. In other words, the irony was worth revisiting.

has it really taken all this time to come to this conclusion? Not like you CB. The deletion of this crap is long overdue!

As Yngwie says that article does not backup your point. I'm fully aware that players are often signed by a club then immediately loaned back (examples being Ryan Christie and Lewis Morgan being signed by Celtic and sent back to ICT and Saint Mirren respectively) which is what that article discusses. however, what you're suggesting is that a player signs for a team and has a clause in their contract stating that they can only be loaned to their former team were they ever to be loaned which is ridiculous.

Really? Belfast is a great place for a weekend.

Dean Ebbe did what he could not do last season: score against a Scottish team.....

Great to see some proper communication. Personally I would have preferred more of a damnation statement but that would be improper and unacceptable in this day and age. Also some of the statements lead to more questions - as have all been asked before. The most worrying wording to me is "we reported that substantial new investment (comprising some cash, higher sales and shares purchase) is required in 2018 to sustain our business." - Sorry folks but that suggests to me that we are in the proverbial s*** and that our future is far from secure. Worrying times ?

Totally agree with this. Our home crowds in this competition so far have been 930 (Peterhead) and 1,078 (Falkirk). That shows how little people care about the competition regardless of the fact that tomorrows match is a semi final. If we get over 1,000 we'll be doing well. These low crowds are symptomatic of the competition.

Has anyone any idea why there are no up to date football reports? I know we don't get great exposure but a little is better than nothing.

Game ends in farce. Definite penalty. What a dick Vigurs is!