The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Pars strike late to seal 100% record
Dun ferm l ine charged into the last 16 of the Betfred Cup after coming from behind to overcome League One side Clyde in dramatic fashion with two goals in the dying moments of the game.
Their stoppage-time winner came via the unlikely source of central defender Paul Watson, whose deft flick from Kyle Tu r n e r ’s free-kick completely deceived Bully Wee goalkeeper Matej Vajs.
Watson was in buoyant mood afterwards, having now helped his side to a fourth successive victory in the tournament, a record which looked to be under pressure when the visitors stormed into a 2- 0 lead early in the second half.
“I was disappointed half-time” said Watson.
“I thought we did really well in the first half, we moved the ball about well then Clyde were two up having had only two shots at goal, helped by a couple of sloppy mistakes by ourselves.
“It showed a lot of character to come back from being two behind and it also shows that we have winners in our team.
“We did really well to dig in and go on to win the game.”
Despite dominating the early stages, with both Kevin O’Hara and Declan McManus squandering chances to open the scoring, Dunfermline found themselves a goal down to their lower league opponents when hesitancy in defence gave Ally Love the chance to clip the ball past Cammy Gill.
No doubt rattled by falling behind, Pars almost levelled when O’Hara’s header struck a post before the interval but there was a further shock for the home side when Clyde scored again in the early stages of the second half, Mark Lamont running on to David Goodwillie’s pass before dispatching a powerful shot beyond Gill. at
Needing at least a draw to win their qualifying group, Dunfermline were thrown a lifeline on the hour when Vajs upended Fraser Murray with O’Hara b e at i n g the Slovakian keeper from the resultant penalty then, with time running out, McManus rounded Vajs to slot home the equaliser.
Penalties looked certain at this stage but, deep into injury time, Watson netted to give Pars what had looked, for long periods of the game, an unlikely victory.
One of the features of Dun fe rm l ine ’ s performances this season has been the fact that goals have been shared around the team and Wat s o n reflected on the rather bizarre circumstances which had led to him recording his second strike of the fledgling campaign.
“It was a good ball in from Kyle,” he said.
“I think I did just enough
to put the goalie off and it seemed to go right through him.
“If I’d connected with it properly it might not have gone in but I’ ll take it anyway.
“It’s early days but it’s another win in what has been a really good start to the season for us and we’re keeping that winning mentality throughout the club.”
Arbroath secured their place in the knockout stages of the Betfred Cup with a dominant 3-0 win over Elgin at Gayfield.
David Gold bagged a first half brace, with Scott Stewart completing the scoring late in the second half.
Gold was the star of the show as he put in a power of work, energe tically shuttling be tween the boxes and making a massive contribution both defensively and offensively.
All that was needed to make his day complete was a third goal but, although coming close, it wasn’t to be.
He said: “I made a joke during the week with one of the kids I coach that I’d get a hat- trick for him today.
“I might have got it too, but the ball got under my feet with the chance I had at the end and I didn’t get it away. I’ve never had a hat- trick at senior level although I also came close last year when I got two at Stirling.”
Gold was delighted with the result which the Lichties thoroughly deserved.
He added: “We dominated the first half but it was tricky for us for a while after the break, although we got a grip of things again later on.
“The wind picked up in the second half, the pitch was quite heavy and the gaffer made the right decision to make a few substitutions.”