Managers Post Dumbarton
Tuesday, 6th Oct 202006/10/20: Link to audio of both managers post match comments
- - Listen to Stevie Crawford’s post match thoughts
To come away from Dumbarton with a victory was the objective claimed Stevie Crawford, he told the media after his side’s 1-0 win in the opening Betfred Cup game:-
“If you win the first game you give yourself a decent opportunity for the rest of the tournament. The boys have come away with that and a clean sheet which is great.
“It is never comfortable when it is just a 1-0 lead but I thought that we were good in possession of the ball on the first half. The second half became a cup tie, you could see they threw the big lad Jones on in the second half and caused us a bit of bother.
“The pleasing thing for us is that we held out at that end of the pitch and we did have a few opportunities in the second half to score more goals.
“It is great for Kevin O’Hara to score the winner by putting away the penalty to win the match. But there was a penalty later on as well when Dom (Thomas) hit the shot from Declan’s cut back. It clearly hit the boy on the arm as well so on the night we could have had another penalty.”
Steven Whittaker played in midfield sitting just in front of the back four, the gaffer commented:-
“For Steven to have an influence on the side he is definitely going to be used in that role. The great thing about Steven as a character is that he has also said that he will play anywhere for the team. It is not just about Steven Whittaker, he is very much here to help Dunfermline progress as well.”
In his post match comments Dumbarton boss Jim Duffy stressed that his view of the penalty incident was that the ball hit his Defender’s hand off his leg and clearly felt that the decision was harsh. Did Stevie have any sympathy for his opposite number?
“I have just looked at the footage there of the one with Dom, I thought it was handball at the time. I think in football at the moment there is a frustration that we don’t know exactly where we are at with some of the rules or decisions that are now made. You see it on Sky television and it seems to be the talking point.
“But our objective today was to come down here and win a game of football in the first competitive match since last March and we are delighted to do so.”
Next up in the Betfred Cup is an opening home match against Falkirk and Stevie feels that after coming so close to promotion last season have put together a strong squad.
“There is rivalry between Dunfermline and Falkirk so it will be a game that we are looking forward to. As I say, when you win games of football it can sometimes become a habit. We have given ourselves an opportunity to go into Friday with a bit more confidence, with a clean sheet and it will be a good match.”
The match was still one where substitutions were used to give players game time but the Pars manager restated his view that he will not use the Betfred Cup games as pre season work outs.
“It means too much to us as a club to try and progress. We came down here with intentions to win the game but it we still Have got to be mindful of the minutes that some players have in their legs. We made decisions to put players on tonight to help us win the game, it wasn’t a case of getting minutes.”
Dumbarton boss Jim Duffy was pleased how his League One team had competed against a Championship side but he said that he was really frustrated with the goal.
“We have had virtual meetings with the referees and it was explained to us if a ball comes off a player and accidentally hits his hand, that is not a penalty now. That is exactly what happened. That is what baffles me. We only had the meeting yesterday and I am really confused. I am not disputing that it hit his hand, but it came off his thigh or hip and they are saying that his hand was in an unnatural position.
To hear more click the link below
- - Hear Dumbarton boss Jim Duffy’s comments
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