East Fife player-boss Gary Naysmith says it should come as no surprise that his League Two outfit toppled Championship side Dumbarton.
The Methil men convincingly beat Raith Rovers in pre-season before pushing Falkirk all the way in the Petrofac Training Cup last week.
On Saturday they went one better by advancing to the second round of the League Cup after a penalty shoot-out.
Naysmith said: “Our last three games have been against Championship clubs and we haven’t been outplayed by any of them.
“I’m really proud of the way the players played over 120 minutes. They got a little lift from the goal but we weathered that.”
The gaffer said he had no concerns about his side tiring in extra-time which came after Kevin Cawley cancelled out Nathan Austin’s opener in 90 minutes.
“A lot of the boys we have here are just naturally fit and I have to put things down to the way they look after themselves,” said the boss.
“We did a bleep test when we came back in and some of them are up at level 15. When I was full-time there were players who couldn’t reach that.”
Fife had the better of early possession but found the Dumbarton central defensive pairing of Darren Barr and Gregor Buchanan a tough nut to crack.
But they did eventually manage to grab a deserved lead when Austin broke free of his marker and chipped Mark Brown from 25 yards.
Austin thought he had doubled East Fife’s lead just a couple of minutes later but his goal was chopped off for a foul on Barr. Dumbarton weren’t behind for long, though, and Cawley’s diving header pulled them back into the tie.
The game went to extra-time and eventually penalties. Allan Walker and Craig Sutherland missed for the Fifers, leaving Willie Gibson the chance to seal the win, but his strike was saved by Ryan Goodfellow.
Declan O’Kane blasted home for East Fife and Cawley needed to score to keep his side in the tie. Again, though, Goodfellow matched the penalty and it was the League Two Methil men who advanced.