Lots of effort, but Killie miss another chance to top table
Kilmarnock could only rue a missed opportunity to take an outright lead in the cinch Championship table after stuttering to a toothless 0-0 draw against relegation-threatened Dunfermline.
DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC 0 KILMARNOCK 0
The disappointment was etched on the face of Derek Mcinnes, whose side remain level on points with an ebullient Arbroath team at the top of the table, as the former Aberdeen manager reflected on the Ayrshire side’s inability to seize the reins in the title battle.
“We came here to win the game”, Mcinnes lamented. “We are trying to find the formula. Being unbeaten isn’t enough. We need to win games.
“We haven’t lost any ground but it’s another week gone. It’s another missed opportunity.
“That’s now three missed opportunities to go top of the league and we’ve not managed to take any
of them and it’s been on the back of three away games.
“It is important that you are top of the league at the end of the season, so we’re working towards that, keep looking for improvements.
“The players are giving us plenty of effort but also to recognise we need improvements to win tight games like today.”
The first half was indescribably poor with some fussy bookings and a couplet of hopeful set-pieces the only respite from the drudgery of both sides bypassing the midfield in an effort to get the ball out of their half as quickly as possible.
Kilmarnock did not resemble a side pushing for promotion whilst Dunfermline appeared quite rightfully to be staring the ignominy of relegation squarely in the face.
The lack of creativity was illustrated by the visitors taking until the 75th minute to try an effort on goal of any substance, with Fraser Murray taking advantage of a loose ball on the edge of the area before curling his effort narrowly over the bar.
The Pars were stung into action, marching up the pitch and, when Dominic Thomas flighted a perfect left-footed free-kick into the box, then it seemed an almost certainty that Efe Ambrose would volley home from three yards out.
The crossbar had other ideas, with the home support looking in astonishment as the Nigerian defender’s effort cannoned back off the woodwork.
Thomas moved from a supporting role into the protagonist, gleefully accepting the ball from a thrusting Steven Lawless pass before pulling his effort from 20 yards out just wide of the upright as Dunfermline revealed some late confidence.
An unexpectedly superstitious John Hughes bemoaned his side’s lack of fortune for their current predicament, just three points off the foot of the table.
“It’s happened to us a few times where we hit the woodwork,” Hughes claimed. “If it goes in then we are picking up the three points.
“We are going in the right direction. We just need a wee bit of Lady Luck to go our way. I am not being blasé, we are fully aware of the circumstances of where we are.
“It will take everyone staying together and Lady Luck will turn and go our way.”