Williamson declares confidence is on the up at East End Park

DUNFERMLINE 4 DUMBARTON 0

Dunfermline waltzed into the Championship play-offs with a 4-0 thrashing of Dumbarton.

And one of the goal scorers, Ryan Williamson, believes confidence couldn’t be higher that they can knock out Dundee United this week.

Kallum Higginbotham got two and man-of-the-match Fraser Aird one but the biggest cheer of the day was saved for Williamson, who recorded the fourth Pars goal and his first ever senior strike after 111 appearances.

“I’ve been saying for a while I was going to score,” said the fullback.

“As we were walking off at halftime today I’ve said I was going to score in the second half.

“All joking aside it was a great feeling to get the goal after this long. The boys have asked me how I would celebrate and I’ve thought about taking my top off or whatever. When the ball has hit the net it’s a great feeling and I’ve just put my hands in the air and run round the pitch.

“After the St Mirren game it wasn’t looking great for us to make the play-offs but we have gone on a great run of form and now we go into Tuesday night (against United at East End) with confidence and we have to be confident we can get through the tie.

“The manager has said it’s up to us to get the club back into the Premiership and with the quality we have in our dressing room there is no reason why we can’t. We don’t fear anyone going into the playoffs. If we play the way we know we can then we’ll do it.”

Any nerves that Williamson had about his side recording the result they needed to secure their play-off berth evaporated early in game, as within 25 minutes the visitors found themselves down to 10 men and two goals behind.

Dumbarton captain Craig Barr saw red for a reckless foul on Andy Ryan and within 15 minutes of his dismissal the Pars were two to the good – both from Higginbotham.

First up, the former Partick man got on the end of a Fraser Aird cross to rifle home from six yards, then five minutes later he killed another Aird ball on the run and curled home.

By this point the Pars, playing in front of Sir Alex Ferguson and other members of the 1968 cupwinning team, were rampant and it was 3-0 before half-time. This time it was Aird on the score sheet as he wandered down the left before cutting in and finishing with aplomb.

The second half was all but a training exercise for the Pars although Ryan and Declan McManus will be expected to be sharper this week as chances were squandered.

The one chance that wasn’t wasted was Williamson’s as Joe Cardle rolled the ball through, the right back ran onto it and finished calmly.

Pars boss Allan Johnston is looking forward to the play-offs against United.

The former Kilmarnock and Queen of the South boss told the club’s official website: “The boys were very professional. I thought we controlled the game from start to finish.

“Obviously them getting a man sent off always helps, but even before then it looked as though it was only a matter of time before we scored.

“It was a really professional performance and good to score four goals. Roll on Tuesday!

“If you look at the second half of the season, we are playing strongly, obviously have a bit of momentum and not losing a lot of goals.

“We are scoring goals so it sets it up for a really good game on Tuesday night.

“Hopefully we can put in a really good performance and score a couple of goals.”

Ryan Willamson scored his first goal for the Pars after 111 appearances for the Fifers.