The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Raging Ryan gutted to see points shared
DUNFERMLINE: Late strike fails to get Pars into top five as Ton strike at death
MORTON 1 DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC 1
Dunfermline were just seconds away from going fifth in the Championship, but a last-gasp leveller from former Dundee midfielder Jim Mcalister saw the Pars remain rooted to second bottom of the table.
For Stevie Crawford’s side, it was their fourth draw in eight league outings this term – with the Pars having taken the lead in three of them.
Dunfermline looked to be heading back to Fife with all three points when Andy Ryan came off the bench to crash the ball home in 87 minutes after Kevin Nisbet’s initial effort was spilled by Morton goalkeeper Sam Ramsbottom.
But four minutes into stoppage time and with barely time to restart afterwards, Mcalister headed home from close range after Kyle Jacobs’ cross was knocked on by Stephen Welsh and fell perfectly for the hosts’ captain.
Ryan said: “It’s frustrating. The game wasn’t the best, it was a scrappy game from the first whistle.
“But once you get that goal and you go 1-0 up with three minutes to play and they equalise with seconds to go, it was like a sucker punch.
“I thought we defended pretty well. They brought on John Sutton and went even more direct than they already were.
“I thought we had a few chances, they had one cleared off the line in the first half and we had one cleared off the line near the end. We don’t want to accept a point but we’ll need to take it.”
Ryan hopes the goal, plus an excellent display overall which also saw him set up Nisbet with a superb chance in 70 minutes, will see him push for a berth in the Pars starting line-up after the international break.
The ex-hamilton striker added: “You want to be playing every time but when you’re on the bench your role is to come on and help the team and obviously I got a goal, but that doesn’t really matter when you don’t win the game and only come away with a point.
“The manager picks the team, obviously I want to be playing every week but I will just have to work even harder in training and try and make an impact when I come on and give him something to think about.
“After a performance like that when we threw it away a bit at the end you just want the next game to come as quickly as possible.
“But we have a break now so we will have the chance to sit down on Monday and talk over the game and hopefully come back stronger for the Ayr United game at East End Park on October 19.”
Dunfermline, who were lacklustre in attack, burst into life five minutes from the break when holding midfielder Harry Cochrane showed some brilliant skill to find Kyle Turner in space, but the midfielder’s 20-yard effort deflected off Mcalister and spun wide on the far post.
It was their best chance in a forgettable first 45 before Ryan’s late goal.