DUMBARTON defender Chris McLaughlin revealed his first senior goal was down to some fatherly advice.
Before every game the old man tells his son to have a pop at goal whenever he gets the chance.
And against Raith Rovers on Saturday, in a superb 2-0 win in the Irn-Bru Cup, McLaughlin has one of those shots he’s been told to have and, would you believe, the ball ended up in the back of the net.
He said: "I was quite fortunate with the goal. The ball just dropped for me, and on my weaker right foot too.
"It was a great start for us and even though Raith fought back, we kept the ball well. If we'd scored the penalty to make it 3-0 that would have ended the game.
"Instead we just kept working hard. People say it's easy to play against ten men but it's not as simple as that and we're delighted with the win and the clean sheet.
"It's my first goal in senior football and my mum and dad were here. My dad texts me on every match-day telling me to shoot and score goals.
"I said I'd claim the winner last week and I got a bit of stick from the boys for that (because) the Brechin player put it through his own net.
"As a defender, it's also important that we keep clean sheets. We've now done that in back to back games and it's nice to be going into the next games against Elgin with that sort of record."
Stevie Aitken, the Dumbarton manager, made the point that while his side are in a higher league, Raith have more players, a bigger budget and, crucially are full-time.
This win means that this club, which in recent years has punched way above its weight, has reached the semi-final of a national tournament for the first time since 1976.
McLaughlin’s opener was followed by an Ally Roy goal and they could even afford Tom Walsh missing a penalty.
Referee Gavin Duncan admitted afterwards he had blown too early because the whistle went just as Mark Stewart sent the loose ball into the net.
Raith were well beaten and their cause wasn’t helped by Lewis Spence being sent off.
Aitken said: “I thought we were terrific from start to finish. That was up there with the best performance of the season.
“I have an honest bunch of players who understand the difficulties it is operating as a part-time club in what is a full-time league.”
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