Dumbarton boss Stevie Farrell admits he was just moments away from substituting two-goal hero Michael Ruth in his side's late show victory over Banks O’Dee in the second round of the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

Sons trailed 2-0 after 50 minutes at the Rock and were staring a cup shock in the face until a penalty from Tony Wallace and two goals from Ruth in added time turned things around.

It was an eventful afternoon in G82 with goals from Hamish MacLeod and Gary Wood putting the Highland League side in control until Wallace pulled one back from the spot.

The tie was then brought to a halt for over 15 minutes after an injury to referee Ross Clark resulted in a tannoy announcement being made for a qualified official to report to the tunnel.

Sons season ticket holder Jordan Brownlee answered the call and would take on the role of assistant referee for the remainder of the game, with original linesman Cameron Telfer stepping up to referee.

After all the drama, and nearly 20 minutes of added time, the hosts squeezed past the Dee with Ruth sliding home an equaliser on 97 minutes and glancing home a header on 102 minutes to set up a third-round tie at Annan Athletic in November.

Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter: Wallace scores from the spot to get the home team back in to the gameWallace scores from the spot to get the home team back in to the game (Image: Andy Scott)

Farrell was forced to take the game to the visitors in the second-half after their possession-based football failed to break down a well organised away defence and he believes finding a different way to win shows a lot about his sides character on an afternoon where three fellow League Two sides exited the competition against lower ranked sides.

Speaking post-match, he said: “It was a proper cup tie.

“We had all the ball in the first half but didn’t penetrate enough so at half-time we changed it and made it a cup tie by getting balls down their throat and going 4-4-2.

“In the second half you start to think it’s going to be one of those days because we were in their box so many times and we either overhit one or they cleared one off their line or there’s a stramash and they are making a magnificent block, but you’ve just got to keep going.

“I said to the players that if we’re going to be successful this year then what we showed in the second half, you need to have in your locker.

“It would have been easy for them to throw the towel in but they never. There’s something in that dressing room this year.

“The players won’t let the heads drop. They are a fantastic group and will give you everything, and you can see that from their reaction.

“Michael Ruth was actually about to come off because he was so bad but there was a stoppage so that’s just the wee bit of luck you need.

“He has scored two great goals with two different finishes, one with his head and one just being in the right area so I’m delighted for him.”