Freezing day at East End as Pars make their point yet again
Dunfermline squandered an opportunity to make significant inroads on Hearts’ lead at the top of the Championship table.
The Pars had to settle for a goalless draw at the end of their game against a battling Ayr United side, the solitary point gained from the encounter against the Honest Men making only a minor dent in what is now a six-point gap between themselves and the Tynecastle side, who they will face in what promises to be an intriguing clash in Gorgie next weekend.
Pars manager Steve Crawford didn’t, however, appear desperately downhearted as he focused on the positives of his team’s performance.
“We had opportunities to score goals today,” he said, “but I don’t feel we worked their goalkeeper enough.
“Especially at crucial points in the game.
“The result gets us closer to Hearts and we’ve got a big game coming up against them next Saturday, then we’ve got the derby with Raith the following midweek.
“I don’t want to sound too disappointed about today’s result, but we are drawing too many games at the moment and we need to find that spark in front of goal.”
With West Fife having been subjected to plunging temperatures over the course of the past few days, the Dunfermline ground staff had worked tirelessly to ensure the East End pitch would be in a playable condition in time for kick-off – and their endeavours were rewarded when match referee Alistair Mather gave the game the green light following a lunch-time inspection.
Although playable and not presenting any safety concerns, the playing surface looked far from pristine during the opening stages of the contest and it quickly became clear that both sets of players were finding difficulty in adapting to the conditions.
Having established themselves as the main challengers to league leaders Hearts, the Pars, who had drawn three of their last four games were looking to restore their early-season winning momentum against an Ayr side who hadn’t tasted victory since early December.
They almost took the lead after 10 minutes when Ryan Dow fired in a powerful 20-yard shot which was deflected for a corner.
Dow’s effort apart, the remainder of the first half was incident-free, with neither goalkeeper being called on to make a save.
The visitors did come close as the interval approached, though, Luke Mccowan sending his effort narrowly wide of Owain Fon Williams’ left-hand post after the Dunfermline defence had failed to clear a Tom Walsh free-kick.
The entertainment on offer postinterval was considerably better than that which was apparent in the first half, with chances finally occurring at either end.
Declan Mcmanus missed a great scoring opportunity for the hosts shortly after the restart, firing over from close range, while Fon Williams saved brilliantly from Tom Walsh at the other end before the game lurched towards its goal-less conclusion.
“It was an evenly-matched game,” reflected Ayr boss Mark Kerr, “which we always expect against Dunfermline.
“However, our goalkeeper hardly had a save to make.”