Still on the hunt for their first points of the year, Dumbarton manager Jim Duffy was once again left frustrated on Saturday as he blasted his side’s ‘basic errors’ during their 4-2 loss to East Fife at Bayview.
Sons did well to battle back from two goals down thanks to efforts from Morgyn Neill and debutant Robert Jones, but goals at the end of the second-half secured three points for the Fifers.
Their fourth loss on the bounce, the Sons boss felt the lacklustre defensive display in Methil was out of character after better shows against Aberdeen and Peterhead.
He said: “We’re making too many basic errors and if you do that it’s hard to win football matches.
“In the last few games I think we’ve defended pretty well, but on Saturday we’ve conceded from a corner and two free-kicks and for us that’s quite poor.
“We had enough physicality and height to deal with those situations better.
“Football is about concentrating at key moments and that’s something we didn’t do.
READ MORE: Dumbarton's frustrations continue as East Fife clinch all three points
“You can’t give Scott Agnew a free-kick from 20 yards out in the middle of the goal because he’s got fantastic ability.
“We’re fully aware of these things and the players were told several times don’t give away cheap free-kicks around the box because Agnew is terrific at them.”
Elsewhere, Duffy was a busy man towards the end of the January transfer window, bringing in former midfielder Ross Forbes from Forfar for a fourth spell at the club, alongside Robert Jones from Stranraer and Jai Quitongo from Iranian side Machine Sazi.
Quitongo is the brother of Sons left-back Rico and Duffy was delighted to bring in the 22-year-old he worked alongside at Morton.
He added: “It’s been going round in circles a lot and we’ve had deals agreed that have fallen through at the last second, but it’s good to get players in. It gives us different options.
“Jai is probably going to take two or three weeks to get up to speed, but he’s a bit of a maverick player, unpredictable and a real talent. I’m delighted to have him on board.”
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