The term legend is chucked about meaninglessly nowadays. Players who have scored one decent goal are instantly labelled as one from over excited fans. Bryan Prunty is no such player.
Signing for Dumbarton in May 2011 nobody could surely have predicted how much of a hero the hitman would become with the Sons faithful. Bryans first goal for the club came against East Stirlingshire in the Ramsdens Cup, it wasn't the greatest goal you'll ever see but in his celebration you could see just how much it meant to him, it was this that most endeared the former Alloa man to us- the ordinary fans. Whenever he took to the pitch he looked genuinely proud to be wearing the Elephant on his chest and that showed in his never-say-die attitude on the pitch. He scored 16 goals in the promotion winning season of 2011/12, including one in the home leg of the playoff final against hometown team Airdrie which caused me to rip my leg open falling down three rows of seats celebrating! Of course one aspect of his game will be remembered above all other, his legendary overhead kicks. In each of his three seasons with the Sons 'Prunts' notched one. His first came after only 45 seconds in a 3-0 victory over Stenhousemuir at the Rock. He became a cult hero in my Standard Grade Computing class earning the nickname Robin Van Prunty and thanks to that goal against Stenny he was a regular topic of conversation in the class. In 2013 he fancied going one better with, undeniably, one of the best goals ever scored by a Dumbarton player. It was February 2013, Sons had lost 3-4 to Livingston the previous week at home and now faced them at Almondvale. 4 minutes in Paul McGinn (making only his second start for the club) swung in a cross to the edge of the box, what happened next will never be forgotten. Prunty took the ball on his chest, jumped backwards and unleashed a wonderful overhead bicycle kick from the edge of the box into the top corner of Andy McNeil's net (ironically McNeil will now be his team-mate at Airdrieonians) The goal went viral and even featured on Skys Soccer AM. Last season it took until the 75th minute of a game before he scored his trademark goal. It was a cold, miserable December night against former employers Alloa when he struck with a low effort from the edge of the box. The goal rescued a crucial point for the Sons. His final goal came in a pre-season draw with Premiership Partick Thistle in July 2014 The thing many people will remember most about Prunty's time with Dumbarton isn't actually his performances on the pitch, it would be his son Liam who became the most famous ballboy in the stadium. 'Mini Prunts' as he was nicknamed was an ever present at the Rock and was always involved in his Dads celebrations. Seeing both celebrating goals was a brilliant sight which would even have touched the heart of away fans. This morning it was revealed on the official website that Bryan had rejoined his former club Airdrieonians. The lack of game time recently meant that moving on would be best for both parties and that afternoon he (and 'Mini Prunts') were given a heroes send off as the home end applauded him down the tunnel for one final time. 'Prunts' leaves the Sons with a record of 75 starts, 36 substitute appearances and having hit 33 goals. He will go down in history as the man who scored 'That Goal' as well as a true Sons legend for his loyalty, ability, attitude and personality. All the best in the future Bryan, hopefully we'll see you back at the BBS soon!
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Bear with me for a bit as this is my first bit of writing I've done on Touring Cars that I've felt is acceptable enough to publish! It will get better, I promise. In under 2 weeks time Britains premier saloon car championship comes to Scotland for its only visit, and seen as Croft this year clashed with my holiday, my only visit to a round this season. Best season ever was the hashtag used to promote the season and whilst I may look back on the 'golden era' of supertouring with tinted specs (or in Rob Austins case Aviators) it's becoming hard to disagree. No fewer than 7 former champions took to the grid this season with all experience different kinds of luck. Last seasons winner, Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) has experienced an indifferent year. A double win on the opening day at Brands has been cancelled out with disappointing weekends at Oulton Park and last time out at Snetterton (where a big shunt in free practice meant that he missed qualifying and was eventually told not to take part in race 3 on medical grounds) Following a full car rebuild it would be hard to discount Jordan on a track which has always suited the smaller wheelbase cars. 2012 champion Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) has again had an impressive year. Driving the all new Honda Civic Tourer 'Flash' has been incredibly consistent finishing every race to date and sitting commandingly in 2nd in the drivers championship. Gordon has strong connections to Knockhill as the husband of the circuit managers daughter and has always performed well in the past at his home circuit. A fire in race 3 last year ruined his day, but you'd be daft to bet against the Fifer not winning at least once on home soil. Sheddens team-mate at Honda Yuasa Racing is vastly experienced triple former champion Matt Neal. Unlike his team-mate however Neal has had a disappointing year...with year being the most important word. Despite consistently strong pace the 2005 Champion hasn't won a race since Croft in June 2013. Matt endured poor weekends at both Oulton & Croft where a mixture of incidents and poor results prevented him from scoring any meaningful points. It's always difficult to discount a man with as strong a pedigree as Neal. His duck has to be broken one day...doesn't it? There are few more controversial drivers on the grid than Jason Plato (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save Racing). Watching him however gives you the idea that he quite enjoys being the pantomime villain. Despite endlessly moaning about the rear-wheel drive advantage the 2010 and 2001 champion still sits in a commanding third place in the Championship 43 points behind leader Colin Turkington. Plato and the MG6GT have, at times, struggled for pace and if he doesn't win the championship this year it is widely speculated that the manufacture may pull out. Whether or not these rumours are true is one thing, but the championship is still very much within Platos reach, and it's difficult to think of something he'd like more than matching arch-rival Matt Neals number of championships. Colin Turkington (Ebay Motors) has had an interesting BTCC career thus far. After starting off in 2002 with 'Team Atomic Kitten' he has progressed (unlike the band) into one of the Championships star drivers. He graduated from TAC into the works MG team in 2003 however prior to the 2004 season the manufacturer pulled out. After another season in the ageing MG ZS he switched to VXR at probably the worst time possible. For the start of the 2005 season they had replaced the car which had won 4 championships on the trot (the Astra coupe) with the all new Astra Sporthatch. Whilst other teams had moved on to Super-2000 spec cars VXR had stuck with the outdated BTC-T spec regulations. The S2000 Honda Integras ran away with the championship and Turkington left after only one year. From disappointment came perhaps the best move of his career joining up with WSR who used to run the MGs. After one season campaigning the old ZS in Team RAC colours they switched to the BMW E90 320si which delivered the Northern Irishman his, and WSRs, first BTCC title. After a brief switch to WTCC Turkington returned to WSR (now Ebay Motors) to drive the BMW 125i M Sport, which this year has been the car to beat. Turkington currently leads the championship by 23 points with both Knockhill and Rockingham suiting RWD cars he has to go down as the current favourite to lift the title. The two other former champions on the grid have endured frustrating seasons. 2007 and 2008 champion Fabrizio Giovandardi (Airwaves Racing) currently sits 13th and has struggled for both success and incident free races. The other former champion is a legend from the supertouring era; Alain Menu (Chrome edition Restart racing). Having won the 1997 title for 'Williams Renault' and 2000 for the prodrive ran 'Ford Team Mondeo' Menu was making a long awaited BTCC comeback in 2014 and despite driving a car with obivous pace he has not done anywhere near as well as he'd have hoped. With Team BMR already committed for next year and with the obvious talents of Aron Smith and Jack Goff as his team-mates the Swiss driver should be challenging nearer the top next season. But who else might challenge?It's not just the former champions to look out for with 5 out of the top 10 places taken by drivers who've yet to win a title. Rob Collard (Ebay Motors) always goes well at Knockhill. The aforementioned Aron Smith (Chrome edition Restart racing) has won twice this year in his Volkswagen CC and team-mate Jack Goff showed real pace at Snetterton. Rob Austin (Exocet racing) has been unlucky throughout the season with various issues stumping the Audi drivers progress. On the track where he gained his first ever BTCC pole last season the podium is a realistic aim, whilst team-mate Hunter Abbott (AlchoSense Breathalysers Racing) followed an excellent weekend at Croft with a disappointing one at Croft. Motorbases Mat Jackson is a picture of unspectacular consistency and should be hoping to go one better following an excellent 2nd at Snetterton. Whilst young drivers Tom Ingram (Speedworks) and Sam Tordoff (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save Racing) are being touted by many as future champions following impressive showings in only there first and second seasons respectively. Finally Adam Morgan (Wix Motorsport) has shown real pace this season in his Mercedes A Class, following a seasons best 4th at Snetterton the former Ginetta Champion may be an outside bet for a podium place. How about the rest?Despite a relatively lowly 17th place in the championship ex Formula 3 champion Marc Hynes (Quantel BiFold Racing) has had a decent first year back in racing. The Maurissia F1 driver coach has been let down at times by other drivers and by his own decision making. Expect next year to be a far more impressive one. Scotsmen Dave Newsham (AmdTuning.com) and Aiden Moffat (Laser Tools Racing) will be looking to make an impression on there home track. As will former British GT Champion Glynn Geddie (United Autosports) Last seasons Jack Sears trophy winner Lea Wood (Houseman Racing) will be looking to creep into the top 15 in his Toyota Avensis more than he has managed so far as will Jack Clarke (Crabbies Racing) in his Ford Focus. American Robb Holland (Rotek Racing) scored his first point at Snetterton and will be looking to build on that at his favourite track in his immaculately prepared Audi S3 saloon. The STP Racing with Sopp + Sopp Protons of Ollie Jackson and Dan Welch have had a season plagued by engine issues. Consistent finishes would be the aim after a decent 2013 for Welch. Finally Chris Stockton (Power Maxed Racing) should have his new Swindon engine fitted in time for Knockhill. The former Lexus driver has had a horrendous season with problems plaguing his RML built Chevy Cruze hatch, making him the only driver to have competed in every round not to have completed over 50% of racing laps. Stockton and the hard working crew at BTC Racing, much like STP Racing, will be hoping for 3 race finishes in Fife.
So there you have it, a complete preview of the next 3 rounds of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. My first 'official' bit of writing on the subject and something a bit different from the normal football on here! |
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April 2020
CategoriesAuthorI'm Fraser, 22, Sons fan who is now living the dream of reporting on Dumbarton for the Lennox Herald. |