Sam Ramsbottom has revealed that he was almost in tears at the full-time whistle, as Dumbarton retained their place in League One.
Jim Duffy’s side edged out Edinburgh City 3-2 on aggregate over the two legged final to secure survival - despite losing a nervy second-leg 1-0 at home in blustery conditions.
And goalkeeper Ramsbottom told the Lennox that referee Alan Newlands’ whistle came as a huge relief after a season unlike any other.
The 25-year-old said: “Honestly when I heard the whistle I thought I could cry.
“I couldn’t wait for the game to be over. I just wanted us to be safe so we could all take a deep breath after 17 games in such a short period of time.
“I’d rather play in pouring rain than what we played in on Thursday night.
“It was unrelenting.
“As soon as you kicked the ball with any height on it then it was getting grabbed by the wind. It was definitely the worst conditions I’ve played in.”
After edging past Stranraer in the semi-final thanks to Jaime Wilson’s strike, the Sons took control of the final in the first-leg last Monday - as they left the capital with a 3-1 advantage thanks to goals from Ryan McGeever, Tomas Brindley and Morgyn Neill.
Ouzy See’s header in the second-half of the second-leg put the tie back on a knife edge, but Ramsbottom always believed the defensively solid Sons had enough about them to secure another season in the third tier.
He continued: “I had no doubt that we were going to stay up.
“I thought that we had enough there.
“Obviously we’re playing against teams who have been winning all season, Edinburgh City are a good side who would compete in League One.
“That’s all credit to them, but I thought we had enough over the games.
“It’s obviously weighted in favour of the team coming up who are in decent form and winning, but in those types of games form goes out the window.”
And he hopes that his impressive performances since arriving at the Rock in March have helped to prove the doubters wrong, after a difficult start to life in Scottish football across the Clyde with Morton.
The former Tranmere Rovers man added: “I have absolutely loved every second at Dumbarton.
“The boys have been fantastic and it’s been great for me to get some games. The gaffer has been brilliant and so have Rab (Glen) and Jamie (Barclay) in the goalkeeper’s union.
“I wanted to right a few wrongs. A lot of people at Morton had said some not so nice things about me.
“You see it and you don’t take it to heart because everyone will have an opinion. But Morton fans didn’t tend to say nice stuff; online or in person.
“I wanted to try and prove some people wrong and hopefully I’ve managed to do that.”
