The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Leaders in control after early pressure
BRECHIN CITY 0 DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC 3
It was a case of job done for Pars boss Alan Johnson as his side tightened their grip on top spot in the Championship with a comfortable win at Brechin.
The league leaders survived some early Brechin pressure before taking a grip of the game with goals from Lee Ashcroft, Decland McManus and Nicky Clark and Johnson said: “At their first corner they had a couple of shots saved or blocked.
“Brechin did well throughout the game and Sean Murdoch made a couple of important saves.
“We were a real threat from setpieces and their keeper made some good stops at corners.
“We finally scored from a corner and it was good to see one of my centre-halves score.
“We controlled the game a lot better in the second half and Ryan Williamson was outstanding with some great deliveries from the right which got us two goals.
“Scotland must have some good players if Ryan is not in with a shout for the under-21s. He plays like that week in week out and he must continue to do so if he is to catch the eye of the people who make the decisions.
“It was important to get a result, although we didn’t play as well as we can.
“We have a lot of good players and good options, as shown by the guys on our bench. If we keep playing like that we will do well.”
Brechin made a lightning start and on three minutes did everything but score.
A Jordan Sinclair shot was blocked by the feet of keeper Murdoch, a follow-up from Paul McLean was blocked and finally Kalvin Orsi headed just over.
Kallum Higginbotham took all the Dunfermline corners and on 19 minutes his delivery gave Callum Morris a header which was saved, then another flag-kick saw a Clark header blocked on the line.
The opening goal came on 28 minutes. Another corner broke to Ashcroft and his shot took a deflection on its way in.
Brechin almost equalised on 39 minutes. Orsi went past two defenders and his shot was saved by Murdoch.
Two minutes from the break a scooped shot from Higginbotham dipped just wide.
Just after the restart the powerful Nate Wedderburn headed just wide for Dunfermline, then at the other end Connor McLennan had a shot saved.
On 56 minutes a Williamson cross was headed powerfully home by McManus.
The visitors scored a third on 71 minutes. A Williamson cross came off the head of Sean Crighton with Graeme Smith poised to gather and Clark tapped into an empty net.
Dunfermline could have added to their tally and a Clark shot clipped the bar on 82 minutes.
Brechin boss Darren Dods said: “We had our best chances right at the start and on another day the ball would have gone in.
“Dunfermline are full-time and top of the league for a reason but we stood up to them.
“I was disappointed that we couldn’t score, but if we keep creating chances we will eventually score goals.”
St Mirren closed the gap on Championship leaders Dunfermline to a point with a 3-1 home win over Queen of the South yesterday.