Dumbarton are two draws from two in the Championship after a 1-1 stalemate at Falkirk on Saturday, writes Jack Crawford.

Ally Roy scored for the Sons before Myles Hippolyte levelled things up with a penalty before half-time. The hosts dominated the remainder of the game but failed to snatch a winner as Sons left Falkirk with what could turn out to be an important point.

Stevie Aitken made no changes to his starting 11, but there was a welcome return for Stuart Carswell who made the bench after suffering an injury in pre-season.

There was little to get excited about in the opening stages. Falkirk controlled possession couldn’t find the killer pass to get in behind the Sons defensive wall.

Roy looked like he would be Dumbarton’s main threat on the break, and after 13 minutes he put them ahead.

David Wilson crowded out Hippolyte in midfield before playing a perfect through ball which was latched on to by the 20-year-old.

The Hearts loanee took a touch before smashing the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Dumbarton’s lead wouldn’t last long, however, as 10 minutes later the Bairns were level.

Mark Stewart bundled over Nathan Austin in the penalty area and referee Alan Muir had no choice but to point to the spot.

Hippolyte took the ball and sent Scott Gallacher the wrong way to make the game all square.

Sons weren’t disheartened though, as Tom Walsh forced Falkirk goalkeeper Robbie Thomson into pushing the ball over his own bar after a cutback from Christian Nade.

From the resulting corner, Dougie Hill headed the ball off the bar before Peter Grant had to head the ball behind for another corner.

The hosts pushed forward to try and get ahead before the break, but the closest they came was through a drive from Hippolyte that flashed wide.

Most of the second half belonged to Falkirk, Gallacher making good saves to deny both Joe McKee and Hippolyte.

Rory Loy then had a snapshot which went just over the bar and hit the post behind the goal.

Falkirk huffed and puffed but created little compared to the possession they had, and should have pulled the trigger rather then passing the ball one more time on more than one occasion.

Perhaps their best chance came as a result of Dumbarton giving the ball away cheaply in the wrong area, but Hill was on hand to make two crucial blocks to deny Austin and McKee.

Sons couldn’t get rid of the ball in the final ten minutes, as every ball that was cleared was just picked up again by the Bairns who continued to drive forward.

There was a good chance, however, for Stewart and his volley had to be tipped over by Thomson.

One final opportunity fell to Austin, but Gallacher was there to get a good hand to his deflected shot before McKee curled just wide of the bottom corner when he should have done better.

Next up for Dumbarton is the visit of Rangers under-20s in the Irn Bru Cup tomorrow, before league duty resumes on Saturday against Queen of the South at Palmerston.