Beadling is making most of opportunity

Tom Beadling has hailed Pars boss Allan Johnston for kickstarting his career at East End Park.

The 22-year-old has become a linchpin for the Pars since joining the club on loan from Sunderland in January, playing every minute since making a goal-scoring debut against Morton on February 3.

Prior to his move to Fife, Beadling had only played two senior matches in his entire career, during a miserable loan spell with Bury in the second half of last season.

Aside from that, he had been restricted to runouts for the Black Cats’ reserves.

However, he is now thriving as a regular first-team star in the roughand-tumble of the Scottish Championship and the towering midfielder is adamant the switch north of the border is exactly what he needed at this stage of his development.

“I am very grateful to the manager for how he has treated me,” said Beadling. “He took me straight in, trusted me and believed in me. Hopefully I am repaying him with performances.

“From day one I have felt right at home here and I think that has showed. I feel that I have settled in with the lads fairly quickly.

“The first few games were tough, the league was a lot different to what I was used to at Sunderland.

“It took me a bit to work that out but I feel that I have coped well,” he added.

Following another dominant display in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Falkirk, Johnston is adamant there is more to come from the youngster as the Pars seek to cement their playoff berth and mount a promotion charge.

“Tom has done really well, he has been really consistent, has good energy and the fans already like him – the way he gets about the pitch and breaks things up,” said the Pars gaffer.

Picture: SNS Making an impact: Tom Beadling in action.