The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Dow stays positive as stumbling Pars look to recover goal threat
Dunfermline’s stuttering run of form continued as they recorded their fourth draw from their last five league games after becoming locked in a goalless stalemate with a battling Ayr United side at a frostbound East End Park.
The result was even more disappointing in the wake of the news that league leaders Hearts had been defeated at home by Raith and although the point gained made a minor dent in the Tynecastle side’s lead at the top of the table, the Pars remain six points behind the Championship favourites with a trip to Gorgie looming next weekend.
Although clearly frustrated at the outcome of the game, Dunfermline midfielder Ryan Dow felt that positives could be taken from the performance.
“We kept a clean sheet and were solid at the back and didn’t give Ayr many chances,” he said.
“We made some chances ourselves but we seemed to be snatching at them. It’s just not falling for us just now and we know we need to convert these chances into goals.”
Dow agreed that perhaps he and his team-mates were trying too hard to recover their scoring momentum.
“We spoke about that in the changing room after the game,” said Dow.
“Maybe we are getting a bit too anxious. We haven’t scored for a couple of weeks now so perhaps we need to show a bit more composure in front of goal.
“At the start of the season we were flying and scoring lots of goals but we were conceding a few as well.
“Now its gone the other way and we really need to get back to playing free flowing football again and recover our sharpness up front.”
In an uneventful first half Dow was involved in Dunfermline’s solitary scoring opportunity, his goalbound shot early on being deflected wide by Ayr defender Jack Baird.
The visitors were denied just after the interval when Owain Fon Williams produced an outstanding save from a Tom Walsh effort but the Pars knew it wasn’t going to be their day when the normally deadly Declan Mcmanus scooped the ball over the bar from six yards out shortly afterwards.
Substitute Lewis Mccann squandered a couple of promising chances as the second half progressed but the goalless outcome looked inevitable long before the final whistle sounded.
Dow acknowledged that the result was a missed opportunity as he looked ahead to next week’s clash with Hearts, as well the derby game against Raith the following midweek.
“These are the games that you want to play in,” he said.
“It will tough without any fans being there but they will be exciting contests. We just need to work hard and hope that things start to turn for us on the goal front.”