Dumbarton’s late flourish was not enough, after coming back from 3-0 down to lose 3-2 to Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park last Saturday.

The Sons were shellshocked after 35 minutes after goals from Kevin McHattie, Ross Callachan and Scott Roberts put the hosts in control.

And a raft of subs by manager Stevie Aitken at half time and the visitors clawed their way back into the game late on via goals from Ryan Stevenson and Robert Thomson.

But it was not enough, as the team from the Rock piled on the pressure late on.

The Sons now sit in ninth after Dunfermline picked up a late winner against St Mirren.

And the game could have taken a completely different turn, after Daniel Harvie spurned a glorious chance when Dumbarton were 1-0 down after McHattie’s opener.

Joe Thomson, on loan from Celtic, whipped in a cross in the 33rd minute, with the ball evading all the players.

But it landed in front of Harvie, who did not expect the ball to make it that far across. And with the goal at his mercy, it bounced off him and rolled harmlessly out for a goal kick.

And in the space of three minutes, Dumbarton were made to pay with Rovers firing in two quickfire goals.

Callachan’s shot took a deflection off a Sons player to roll past Martin, and then Roberts followed it up with a screamer, bouncing off the post from 30 yards out with Dumbarton players slow to close down the Rangers loanee.

Robert Thomson had a chance to fire in shortly before the break, with Joe Thomson whipping in an almost identical free-kick for Harvie’s miss earlier.

The Sons players began to drop deeper and deeper, and invited pressure upon themselves.

It left Aitken’s side with a mountain to climb,with numerous poor performances across the park from his players, which resulted in two instant substitutions.

Josh Todd and Sam Stanton entered the fray straight after the restart switching from a 4-4-2 to a 4-4-1-1 David Smith, one of the few players to perform well in the first half, dropped to right-back.

And with Stevenson entering shortly after, the subs combined brilliantly, with Stanton dribbling through and passing for former Hearts midfielder to rifle in a shot from 20 yards out.

With the away side’s tails up, they continued to pile on the pressure, and grabbed a second after Todd’s cross was not dealt with by the Raith defence, and it was eventually bundled in by Thomson.

Stevenson hit a half-volley minutes after from outside the box, but luckily for goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert the shot flashed just past the post But the Sons were unable to grab the crucial third, and Gregor Buchanan saw red after a late challenge and received his second yellow of the afternoon.

Dumbarton next host current league leaders Queen of the South on Saturday (3pm kick-off).

RAITH ROVERS: Cuthbert, McHattie, Callachan, M’Voto, Benedictus, B Barr, Davidson, Roberts (Johnston, 73), Skacel (Stewart, 63), McManus (Thompson, 90), Smith.

Subs not used: Brennan, Matthews.

DUMBARTON: Martin, Pettigrew (Todd, 46), J Thomson, Buchanan, Gallagher, Fleming (Stevenson, 65), R Thomson, Harvie, Barr, Smith, Stirling (Stanton, 46).

Subs not used: Ewings, Docherty, McCallum, Kassarate.