Nowhere near my best goal – O’Brien

Tam O’Brien’s windassisted 25-yard opener helped Arbroath blow Dunfermline’s Championship title bid apart at gale-hit Gayfield.

But while his 24th career strike could well be one of the most important goals O’Brien ever scores, the Arbroath defender insists it is nowhere near his best.

O’Brien’s 25th minute effort took a wicked deflection past Dunfermline keeper Owain Fon-Williams to set Arbroath on their way to a 2-0 win over Pars.

Arbroath are now up to eighth place after going on a five-game unbeaten run to bolster their Championship survival hopes, but O’Brien doesn’t rate his strike too highly.

“The boys are telling me my strike was going well wide before a big deflection blew it into the net,” said O’Brien.

“If you don’t shoot then you’ll never score. I love a pop on goal but definitely miss a lot more than I score.

“Sometimes you hit the back of the net, other times it hits the top of the stand. This one took a lucky deflection but I’m definitely claiming it as my own.

“How does it rank with my other goals? I’ve scored a few raspers in my time, some real stormers.

“I scored one a few years ago at Dumbarton that went right into the top corner. That was a cracker but this goal could be an important one.”

Arbroath coped admirably with the stormy conditions at Gayfield.

Referee Craig Napier declared the game on after a 2pm pitch inspection but insisted he would call proceedings to an abrupt half if play turned ‘farcical’.

Arbroath took full advantage of having the wind at their backs in the first half to adopt a ‘shooton-sight’ policy and peppered Fon-Williams goal with 14 efforts.

Fon-Williams produced a stunning early save to deny Bobby Linn before Dale Hilson hit the post from 10 yards.

O’Brien got the hosts off the mark and they doubled their lead as Linn cracked a thunderous 25-yard effort off the woodwork – with Hilson pouncing to net the rebound.

Dunfermline huffed and puffed their way through the second period but, aside from a close range Kevin O’Hara strike off the post, they created very little.

“The conditions were very tough and Arbroath coped better than us,” said Dunfermline defender Kerr McInroy.

“They hit a lot of shots from distance to trouble our keeper but we didn’t create enough to get back into it.”

IMPORTANT GOAL: Tam O’Brien fires Arbroath into the lead with a wind-assisted 25-yard strike at Gayfield.

Dale Hilson, right, celebrates his goal with Bobby Linn.