Match report from the afternoon away draw versus Raith Rovers
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Raith Rovers, safe from relegation and Dumbarton, still fighting to avoid the drop, played out an uneventful no-scoring draw at Starks Park, a game which had few incidents of note and a result which will be of more satisfaction to the visitors in their current position.
The visitors, clearly anxious to improve their league position and battle their way clear of the relegation zone, began brightly with Craig Winters seeing his shot defelected for a corner with less than a minute on the clock.
Raith retaliated when Brian Fairbairn cut in from the right and set up Chris Silvestro, who sent his shot wide.
The game settled into something of a lull as the first half progressed, and the only efforts of note before the interval were long-range shots from either side.
Dumbarton's Stephen Ferguson tested Raith keeper Ally Brown with a speculative shot from 25 yards, then Rovers' midfielder Mark Crilly sent in a 30- yarder which produced an excellent save from Stephen Grindlay at the other end.
With eight minutes of the half remaining, Sons' Ryan Borris saw his own 30-yard effort slip wide of Brown's left-hand post.
Dumbarton seemed keen to increase the tempo after the break and, in a 10-minute spell, they forced four superb saves from the in-form Brown.
The Raith keeper made an outstanding reaction save from a Jamie Smith header in the 66th minute, and then foiled Chris Boyle, Ryan Borris and Andy Rodgers as Paul Martin's men pushed for the opener.
Other than a solitary effort from Paul McManus at the other end which was easily saved by Grindlay, Raith rarely looked like breaking down the well-organised Dumbarton defence and the match stuttered along to a goal-less conclusion.
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