Johnston frustrated as chances wasted

Manager says side must be more clinical after draw against Morton

Dunfermline gaffer Allan Johnston cut a frustrated figure after watching his side fail to make their dominance count as they played out a stalemate with Morton at East End Park on Saturday.

“I thought in the first half there was not much between the teams; we probably played the better football and got into the better areas but our final pass let us down.

“They looked a threat just with the pace and movement they have up front,” he said.

“Second half, though, we totally controlled it and we should have won the game. We created really good chances and we just need to take our chances and be more clinical.

“We hit the post, we hit the bar, and I think there were another couple of really good chances, so we are not far away.

“I thought there were more positives than negatives today . . . There were a lot of good performances and we controlled the game,” he added. “We just need to turn these performances into wins.”

Things could have been different for Johnston’s men as they carved out a chance as early as 27 seconds into the match. Declan McManus back-heeled into his strike partner Nicky Clark’s path, but Clark’s effort was comfortably saved.

This dominance was to continue throughout the encounter as the visitors could not muster a single shot on target in the entire match.

However, the Pars’ recent profligacy in front of goal continued.

In the second half, three gilt-edged chances were passed up in the space of 10 minutes.

Declan McManus stood on the ball when it looked like he had to score after a Kallum Higginbotham long-range effort was well saved by Derek Gaston on 71 minutes.

Five minutes later Tom Beading was the one who failed to make a great chance count. Higginbotham found Beading with a cute through ball but the Sunderland loanee could only smash his effort off the bar from eight yards.

To add to the Pars’ misery, substitute Daniel Armstrong watched his 12-yard strike hit the post with 10 minutes remaining.

The one consolation the Pars faithful can take is that no ground was lost in the play-off hunt.

Johnston said: “You can see we are not losing goals just now, which is pleasing. That gives us a foundation.

“Then if we start with the attacking play we got today and creating the chances, the wins will come.

“You can turn stats into any way you want to look. The main thing is we are closing the gap.

“We have to put the pressure on and win on Tuesday night against Brechin.

“Then it comes down to who finishes the strongest, and we need to make sure that it is us.”

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We are not losing goals just now, which is pleasing. That gives us a foundation. ALLAN JOHNSTON

Picture: SNS. Pars boss Allan Johnston said his side need to turn good performances into wins.