WASPS’ ace Ryan McCord spoke of his relief and delight at finally ending their Dumbarton hoodoo after the 3-0 win last weekend ended a 17-game winless run for the club against them.

Ian Murray’s side have been regular tormentors of the Wee County men in recent seasons, including the last meeting that saw previous boss Barry Smith resign last month.

And the midfield maestro reckons the timing of the win could be crucial in the fight against relegation at the bottom of the SPFL Championship table.

McCord told Advertiser sport: “This win has been coming against them for a while now. We have played some really good matches with Dumbarton, but somehow ended up losing the game so it is nice to play well and dominate with a decent win. I thought we really played well for long spells in the match and the new gaffer has given us a new lease of life. It was a nice feeling to finally take the lead in a game and we never really looked back once we got in front.

“The manager is really passionate and animated on the touchline and that really translates over to all the boys. We have it back in our own hands now for our season to finish on May 2 and hopefully with the the timing of this win we can kick on now and look to achieve that.

“We can take great confidence from the way we went about things in the Dumbarton game and if we can put in the same performances going forward then we will soon get ourselves out of bother. It is in our own hands now.” McCord reckons his side can take heart from the manner of their victory as they host yet another of their ‘bogey teams’ in Queen of the South this weekend, but they know how difficult it will be against James Fowler’s in-form side.

He said: “We now need to build on this win when we face Queen of the South and they have been another bogey for us in recent years. They are a good side who are flying at the minute in pursuit of a play-off spot and they will be on a high from their win over Rangers, but we can also be confident. We played well against them here the last time, and with the new confidence we have got from the gaffer coming in then we will go and have a go at them. I thought it was very pleasing the way we kept on working hard until we got the killer third goal and I feel that is an attribute that could be key if we want to go and beat Queen of the South.” The 26-year-old was the architect in the middle of the park once again for the Wasps during the victory, but he was also quick to heap praise on the return of Iain Flannigan, who he believes has played a big part in their turnaround in form.

McCord added: “We scored two great goals from Cawley and Flannigan and it is great to see Flannigan in particular get back in and show what he can do. He is almost like a new signing for us at the minute.

"I have really enjoyed playing alongside him in the last few games because he likes to play football and we have a really good understanding.

"The manager has deployed a new system for us and it means that myself and Graeme can sit a bit deeper to give Flannigan the freedom to go and play passes in an advanced area and I think it worked brilliantly for us.”