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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Fraser Clarke

Stuart Carswell helps Dumbarton make history - and reveals he almost left Sons

Stuart Carswell ensured Dumbarton are the only team in British senior football with a 100 percent record – and then revealed he almost left the Sons in the summer.

The defender marked his 200th appearance for the club with the only goal of the game in Saturday’s success against Bonnyrigg Rose.

That goal earned a seventh straight victory for the Sons - who now sit 10 points clear at the top of League Two.

And defeat for Premiership champions Celtic against St Mirren on Sunday means that the Sons are the only side in the UK to still have a flawless record.

Carswell, 29, who was stripped of the Sons captaincy over the summer, said: “To get the win in my 200th game was good, and to get a wee goal as well was a bonus.

Carswell made his Sons debut against Hibernian in 2017. (SNS Group)

“I had a chat with the manager at the end of last season following relegation and the plan was for me to move on.

“We came back in and talked things out. We haven’t looked back since.

“I’m glad I’m still here and hopefully this is a different challenge for us. Previously we’ve always been at the bottom of the league grinding out results, this has been a bit different. But I’m very glad I stayed.

“Not conceding goals gives us a lot of confidence. We know if we score then we have a chance of winning.

“Bonnyrigg were favourites to win the league, so it wasn’t a surprise how good they were. They’ll be up there come the end of the season.

“But for us, it’s another one ticked off, we’ve just got to make sure we continue to kick on. No titles are dished out after seven or eight games. We have to maintain this run for as long as we can.

“There will be wee dips, we know that, but as long as we keep everyone fit we can hopefully push on.”

The Sons face Stranraer tonight for the first time since the 2021 playoff semi-final. (SNS Group)

And boss Stevie Farrell insists he wouldn’t be dwelling on the success, as the Sons aim to make it eight straight wins against Stranraer tonight (Tuesday).

Faz said: “We enjoyed our weekend but our focus will very quickly turn to the game with Stranraer.

“Both ourselves and Stranraer have players away on holiday at the weekend, and I spoke to Jamie Hamill at Stranraer and we agreed to play it this week so we don’t have to play three games in seven days.

“We won’t need to think as much about rotating the squad for it because we have no game this Saturday.”

Kick off at Stair Park is at 7.45pm.

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