Dumbarton 1-1 East Stirling

Aug 31 2008 Brian Henson Reports

FIRED-UP Shire battled to a share of the spoils despite having Craig Tully red carded in a tousy encounter that saw six other Shire players booked.

But Sons will be kicking themselves after dominating the first half and playing against 10 men for more than 30 minutes after the break.

Veteran Shire striker Colin Cramb went off with a thigh strain early on to be replaced by former Sons striker Andy Rodgers.

The game had barely restarted when Stevie Murray put the home side in front in 25 minutes when he prodded home Raymond Logan's header.

After the restart Sons sub Liam Cusack proved a handful to the Shire defence and in 58 minutes Tully was red carded for elbowing him.

The incident also brought a yellow card for Michael Bolochoweckyj and three more Shire bookings followed in the next few minutes as the match threatened to boil over. But in 69 minutes Shire sub Mark McKenzie (left) eased his side's frustrations when he raced on to a long pass and blasted the ball home off the right-hand post.

Dumbarton could have hit back but Derek Carcary and Cusack both squandered chances.

Shire manager Jim McInally said: "We deserved to take something. I'm delighted with the players attitude - they showed real commitment."

Sons boss Jim Chapman said: "We dominated but didn't make the most of our advantage."