The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Positives keep coming for Pars in cup victory
No wonder Ryan Dow believes there is a feelgood factor at East End Park. Dunfermline marched into the last eight of the Betfred Cup by beating Arbroath 3-1 at Gayfield on Saturday but that was only the latest reason to be cheerful.
The Pars also sit, to the chagrin of Hearts fans, a point clear at the top of the Championship. Played 10, won nine, drawn one and lost none is their very handsome record in league and cup thus far this term.
On top of that, and perhaps a little bit under the radar, the club posted a profit – a modest £23,001 but a positive nonetheless – in their accounts the other week.
Also, the Fifers have shown resilience in the way they have handled the loss of star striker Kevin Nisbet to Hibs. They could have felt sorry for themselves but instead they have taken it in their impressive stride.
Dunfermline managed three more goals against the Lichties, the best of which was the first one fired home by Dow on 28 minutes.
A close-range conversion from Euan Murray followed on 37 minutes but Arbroath hit back when substitute Dale Hilson scored on 65 minutes.
It needed a controversial penalty seven minutes from time, converted by sub Kevin O’Hara, to make sure of safe passage into the quarter-finals.
Asked about the upbeat mood at the club, Dow said: “Yes, there is a lot to be positive about.
“There are plenty of good players here and we have been able to change things when we need to. We have a really strong squad.
“The confidence growing all the time.
“That is nine wins and one draw in 10 games for us now - who wouldn’t take is
confidence from that? We just want to keep it going.”
As for his goal, the former Dundee United and Ross County player revealed how he took advantage of how the home team set up.
Dow said: “I had quite a bit of space on the right in the first half, as did Dom (Thomas) on the left.
“Kyle ( Turner) made a run on the outside and I think a few of the Arbroath players went with him.
“The space just opened up for me and I managed to stick it away with my left foot.
“A r b r o a t h played a different formation than we thought they would, with three at the back.
“That kind of played into our hands because nobody was really picking me or Dom up, neither the wing
back nor the centre-half. That left you kind of in between their players and that did suit us.”
Dow was the man who won the spot-kick when his shot struck Ricky Little but he felt it was rather rough on Arbroath.
He added: “To be fair, had that been given against us then I wouldn’t have been happy.
“I think I was the only person who shouted for it.
“That was maybe because I was so tired that I couldn’t run any more!
“I just hit it and it has knocked off his hand.
“It was one of those and it has happened to me before, not for a penalty, but during a game. If your hands are by your side and the ball hits them then it’s a free-kick.
“I do think it’s really
harsh. That is the new rule now and there is nothing you can do about it. “We will take it, though.” This tie wasn’t all about the Pars, however, with Arbroath starting the match very well and then making their opponents nervous at 2-1.
Manager Dick Campbell made two key changes at the interval, bringing on Bobby Linn and scorer Hilson, and it made a difference.
Ja m e s Craigen, who almost opened the scoring for the Lichties with an excellent early strike only for Owain Fon Williams to make a superb save, felt they “rallied” after the break but admitted it was too late by then.
Craigen said: “We started really well for the first 20, 25 minutes but then they
scored two goals in quick succession and that knocked the stuffing out of us.
“For the last bit of the first half we were very much second best so I can understand the manager’s frustration with that.
“But we rallied round at half-time and came out fighting.
“At 2- 0 down we had nothing to lose and we played very well in the second half.
“We were the better team and after we got a goal back we pushed for an equaliser.
“That was always going to leave gaps for Dunfermline to tr y to exploit but, until the penalty, we did well.”
Craigen, like his manager Campbell, wasn’t happy with referee Nick Walsh.
He added: “The penalty came at entirely the wrong time.
“We were in the ascendancy and you have to question the decision.
“The ball hit his hand and he couldn’t do anything about it. To lose a penalty and a goal seven minutes from the end made it very difficult for us.
“I don’t like to moan about referees. I wasn’t too impressed with his performance for a number of reasons but we lost and I’d like to congratulate Dunfermline.
“Now our attention is on the league. We need to start p u tt i n g in 90-minute performances.
“We need to start getting wins on the board. We have Dundee next week and we need three points to begin climbing the table.”