The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Campbell delighted as Lichties hold Dunfermline at Gayfield.
CHAMPIONSHIP: No goals at Gayfield – but Lichties boss hails draw with Pars
Arbroath edged a point closer to Championship safety but failed to overtake fourth-placed Dundee as their winning run came to a halt with a goalless draw at home to Dunfermline.
The Gayfield side, who had won three games in a row going into this one, would have moved into the promotion play-off zone with victory over the Pars. However, neither side could make the breakthrough as they battled out a dogged draw.
“If someone would have told me in the summer we’d be level on points with Dunfermline at this stage of the season I’d have bitten their hands off,” said Arbroath manager Dick Campbell.
“I watched them against Dundee United at the weekend and they were outstanding but we managed to contain them. It’s another point to safety and we aren’t thinking anything other than finishing eighth.
“The full-time teams have different ambitions to ours. They are all desperate to get in the SPL but they won’t get there unless they get in the play-off zone.
“We’ve got seven games in a month and we are going to be very stretched. It will test us as a part-time team but no one at Arbroath will complain.”
Thehostslookedthemostlikelyearlyon as they forced a series of early corners to pile the pressure on Dunfermline.
And with the Pars struggling to deal with Gavin Swankie’s deliveries it seemed only a matter of time before the hosts took the lead.
The breakthrough almost came after eight minutes with Swankie’s corner met by Ricky Little and his header was cleared off the line by Pars midfielder Kyle Turner.
At the other end, Dunfermline came close as a deflected Dominic Thomas freekick went inches over the top.
Dale Hilson tried his luck with a 20-yard free-kick which just evaded Owain Fon Williams’ goal.
Williams was the hero for the visitors as hegotdownsuperblytoturnathunderous Jason Thomson long-range effort wide.
And Dick Campbell’s men had one final chance before the break with Swankie blasting over from 10 yards.
Arbroath started the second half on the front-foot and Mark Whatley drove wide from 20 yards.
But the Pars should have opened the scoring in 53 minutes as Gabriel McGill met a Euan Murray cross only to head straight at Derek Gaston.
As the clock ticked down, neither side looked like they would carve open a winner with Arbroath’s Bobby Linn firing a free-kick into the wall and Joseph Thomson heading over for Dunfermline.
Attendance: 1,146.
Arbroath: Gaston, Thomson, Little, O’Brien, Hamilton, Swankie (Linn 65), Gold (Craigen 77), Virtanen, Whatley (Donnelly 81), Hilson, Wighton. Subs not used: Jamieson, Kader, Stewart, Murphy.
Dunfermline: Fon Williams, Martin, Ashcroft (Edwards 89), Devine, Murray, Thomson (Ross 77), Paton,Turner, Thomas, McGill (McCann 64), Afolabi. Subs not used: Todd, Beadling, Gill, Fenton