Thereafter Dumbarton enjoyed some big wins, including an 11–0 thrashing of Clyde, to reach the semi-final, only to lose out to eventual winners, Queen's Park, Scotland's top side at the time.

[1] Dumbarton were one of the four invitees to take part in the Glasgow Charity Cup but lost out to Rangers in the semi-final.

Source:[22] A series of international trial matches were played to consider selection of teams to represent Scotland in the upcoming games against England and Wales, the first taking place on 28 February where J Anderson, Archie Lang, Alex Lawrence and Joe Lindsay all took part.

A further trial was held on 20 March to decide on the team to play Wales and as a result, Dumbarton's first international caps were awarded when Archie Lang[23] and Joe Lindsay[24] were selected to play for Scotland on 27 March 1880, the match resulting in a 5-1 win for Scotland with Lindsay scoring one of the goals.

Five weeks later, on 14 February, Lang was selected to play for Scotch Counties against a Scottish Canadian XI at Kinning Park - the game ending in a 2-2 draw.