Managers post Ayr United

07/11/20: Link to audio of both managers post match interviews

Pars manager Stevie Crawford felt that they had limited Ayr United to just a couple of chances. He said:-

“We watched them against Morton last week, it was very harsh on them to lose that game. Their front four were very good on the day and we knew that they were going to cause us problems but we dealt with that and nullified that.

“At the other end of the park you are looking to create a little bit more clear cut chances but in regards to the performance I am very happy.”

Dom Thomas went down on the edge of the box in 31 minutes and Stevie was asked if he felt Dunfermline should have been awarded a penalty.

“It was a difficult one for us to see. I am not here to criticise officials, they have got a difficult enough job but I felt Dom’s reaction told a story. I have not had an opportunity to look that one back. Sometimes you get these decisions, sometimes you don’t.

“Somerset Park is not an easy place to come but with all due respect to Ayr United, we have a belief in ourselves that we can win games of football. To come away with a point is pleasing but disappointed at the same time.”

SC explained his choice selecting Fraser Murray ahead of Kevin O’Hara:-

“We just decided to go 4-3-3 in possession with the assurance of having Steven Whittaker’s experience as a sitting midfield player and more a 4-1-4-1 out of possession. I thought the first half was as good as a performance since I have been at the club in terms of out of possession. The one thing that we did find a little bit hard was to create that real goalscoring opportunity but in terms of effort from the boys I felt that they were bang at it today again.

“That is now seven (matches) undefeated in competitive football since the start of the season. It is something that we can build on. I don’t think we looked like we were panicking towards the end. We came down here and won a midweek fixture last season and it got a bit panicky towards the end of the game but I thought we were assured, playing with a bit of confidence against a very good Ayr side.

“We have taken a point away with us, we would love to be going up the road with three points but I don’t think that there will be many teams come down here and take all three points from them this season. That is a massive positive for us.”

Referring to the Betfred Cup match next Saturday, Stevie added:-

“The Clyde game next week takes us away from league football but we need to get a result to progress in the tournament and so we will take the confidence from another clean sheet today.”

Was Ayr’s success built on stopping Dunfermline converting from corners and setplays?

“If Dom was being honest maybe some of his setplay deliveries weren’t at the standard that he has set for himself this season. That is not having a go, his delivery has been excellent and teams are going to be aware that we are a threat at setplays so we will work harder on the training ground to be more creative. We still forced a number of corners and setplays today, it just wasn’t going to be a day where we took our opportunities.”

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