Nearly six long months ago, Stranraer sat bottom of the League Two table with two points from their opening seven games.
A trip to Dumbarton saw the Blues heading for a 1-1 draw after former Stranraer man Mark Durnan had cancelled out Mark Russell’s first half goal.
Then, deep into stoppage time, James Dolan fired home a memorable winner that would help start a run to fire his team up the table.
Now, he is hoping to help Stranraer do it again after a 4-1 defeat at Edinburgh City last time out.
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s away game, he said: “Dumbarton are struggling a wee bit but they got a good result on Saturday.
“They are battling away and they need the points as much as we do.
“Obviously, we are pushing for different things in the league.
“It is a massive game but we just need to go there and get three points.”
Dolan spoke to the club website just after the full-time whistle at Meadowbank Stadium.
He was in no doubt that Edinburgh City “deserved their win” and said: “We were just talking in the dressing room and it is probably the lowest point of the season so far.
“We have done so well to get to this point, obviously, after a shaky start to the season.
“It was just a bad day all round.
“It is hard to put a finger on it.
“I think in the first half they just moved the ball better than us and we could not really get our positioning right in terms of who was picking up who, their midfield was moving about a lot.”
A quickfire return to action presents Stranraer with a chance to banish the weekend defeat.
While Edinburgh City were defeating the Blues, Dumbarton were enjoying an impressive win of their own.
A triumph over Spartans was a precious three points as they look to avoid finishing bottom of League Two.
Dolan was looking forward to getting back to action and said: “I think every footballer will tell you that they just want to play games.
“We just need to put Saturday behind us and get onto Tuesday.
“We need to put 100 per cent in and we need to get a win.”
Last meeting
A late leveller from Kai Kirkpatrick rescued a point for Dumbarton when they visited Stair Park shortly before Christmas.
Goalkeeper Shay Kelly had already made a fine double save from Mark Russell before Stranraer found their way through. James Dolan was sent clear down the wing and crossed in for Russell, whose effort found a way beyond Kelly.
Dumbarton came close before half time when Josh Lane kept out a Leighton McIntosh effort. However, they would have to wait until the very end when Stranraer could only clear a corner to the edge of the box and Kirkpatrick fired home.
Stranraer: Lane, F Ecrepont, Reid, Rough, Dunne, Dolan (S Docherty 82), Plank (Coll 73), McManus, Gillies, Hunter (Quigg 62), Russell.
Not used: McKnight, Hughes, Sharp and Henderson.
Dumbarton: Kelly, Webster, Blair, Wallace (Neill 80), Livingstone, D Docherty, Johnston (Tomlinson 52), Walker, Kirkpatrick, Roy (Clark 87), McIntosh.
Not used: Lynas, Marshall, McEvoy, Gilfedder, Honeyman and O Ecrepont.
Last five meetings
- Stranraer 1 Dumbarton 1 (Russell; Kirkpatrick) at Stair Park on December 20, 2025
- Dumbarton 1 Stranraer 2 (Durnan; Russell and Dolan) at Dumbarton Football Stadium on September 27, 2025
- Stranraer 0 Dumbarton 0 at Stair Park on April 20, 2024
- Stranraer 5 Dumbarton 0 (Own goal, Grant, Forrest, Armour and Lang) at Stair Park on March 5, 2024
- Dumbarton 2 Stranraer 1 (Ruth and Wallace; Ross) at Dumbarton Football Stadium on February 24, 2024
Last five games
Stranraer
- LOSS v Edinburgh City (A): 4-1 (McGrath)
- LOSS v Elgin City (H): 1-2 (Cleland)
- WIN v Spartans (H): 2-1 (Cleland and Quigg)
- DRAW v Annan Athletic (H): 0-0
- DRAW v Stirling Albion (A): 1-1 (Lang)
Dumbarton
- WIN v Spartans (H): 3-0 (Walker, McIntosh and Honeyman)
- DRAW v Stirling Albion (A): 1-1 (Durnan)
- DRAW v Clyde (H): 0-0
- LOSS v East Kilbride (A): 3-1 (Omar)
- LOSS v Annan Athletic (A): 1-0
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Edinburgh City: Currie, Coll (Stuart 74), Reid, McGrath, Docherty, Plank (Ecrepont 62), Quigg, Gillies (Turay 73), Dolan (McManus 62), Cleland (Hughes 62), Lang.
Not used: Hunter, McKnight, O’Donnell and Tas.
Dumbarton
Lineup v Spartans: Rice, Omar, Webster, Durnan, Todd (Kirkpatrick 85), Livingstone, Honeyman (Blair 89), Smith, Walker (Doyle 81), Tomlinson (Roy 89), McIntosh.
Not used: Joseph, Wallace, Brown, Duncan and Long.
Five facts
- Stranraer won away at Dumbarton earlier in the season. However, they have not won twice at Dumbarton in a single season since 2007/08. Mark Stewart and Danny Mitchell scored twice in early December before Gregory Tade scored in the final meeting of the campaign.
- Saturday’s defeat at Edinburgh City was game 100 for striker Deryn Lang in a Stranraer shirt. The frontman has made 53 starts and 47 substitute appearances over his three seasons. His debut came at Bonnyrigg Rose on August 19, 2023. He replaced Cammy Williamson in the second half and scored to cancel out Neil Martyniuk’s penalty.
- Two other members of the Stranraer squad could also reach 100 games for the club before the end of the season. Max Currie has added six appearances to the 90 he made in his first spell at the club. Meanwhile, Finn Ecrepont has also made 96 appearances for the Blues.
- The last time Stranraer lost 4-1 in the league was away to Stirling Albion in 2022. Darryl Duffy scored for the Blues but two goals from Kai Fotheringham, alongside efforts from Jack Leitch and Dale Carrick proved enough for the Forthbank side. Stranraer would bounce back to win a midweek clash at Stair Park with… Dumbarton. All the goals came in the second half as James Hilton and Matty Grant had Stranraer 2-0 up. Martin McNiff and Joe McKee pulled the Sons level before Paul Woods scored. The Stranraer team was: O’Connor, Robertson, Girvan, Ross, Watt (Ellis 89), Woods, Hawkshaw (Brady 83), Forrest, Grant, Eze, Hilton (Malcolm 83). Not used: Dunn, McIntosh, Walker, McLean, Duffy and Downie.
- The last midweek league clash between Dumbarton and Stranraer at the Dumbarton Football Stadium was back in 2003. Derek Wingate opened the scoring before Barry Donald, who had a brief spell with the Blues, levelled things up.
Admission
Supporters can purchase tickets via the home club’s ticketing platform.
Podcast
Catch the latest edition of Look Blues Talking for an extended chat with goalkeeping trio Max Currie, Lyndon Tas and Jim Low, plus all the talking points ahead of away trips to Edinburgh and Dumbarton.
Coverage
If you’re further afield, follow our live matchday updates on X (formerly Twitter) or the home club’s live stream.
The manager’s post-match reaction will be available on YouTube following the game.
Club 1870 subscribers get a first look at the goals on Wednesday, along with full match footage.
Extended highlights will be available via YouTube on Wednesday afternoon, with Laurence Nelson and Brian Martin on commentary.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images)
