Keeping the backdoor shut

“The first thing a team looks for in a game is to have a foundation and that starts with a clean sheet.

Maybe it is because he hails from the land of the Red Dragon that Owain Fôn Williams claims that he does not care who opponents are. His flame may fend off predators but his interests are centred only on his own lair and encouraging fire-breathing performances from his team mates:-

Going into Wednesday night’s match at home to second placed Raith Rovers hot on the heels of playing league leaders, Hearts at Tynecastle the Pars Welsh goalkeeper stressed:-

“They’re all big games. I couldn’t care less about anyone else, I really couldn’t. I really don’t care about Hearts, I really don’t care about Raith Rovers.

“That’s not being arrogant or anything like that, it’s about looking after our own here, it’s about looking after this football club. That’s all I’m worried or concerned about and that’s all we can control. Whether we are second or third or wherever we are, there’s still a long, long way to go in this season.”

Discarding the view that Wednesday’s match could be important in determining who finishes second top come April, Owain added:-

“We are going to go ahead of teams, we’re going to go below teams. There’s still plenty of time left in this football season and I’m sure there will be a lot more twists and turns before the last game of the season.”

Those twists and turns are clearly also filled with elements of frustration such as Dunfermline experienced on Saturday. Owain felt that when you consider that game, there wasn’t an awful lot between the teams.

“We had a couple of great chances, especially early on in the game but it was so tight. It was a tough one to take, considering we’ve gone to Tynecastle and not only nearly got something from it, but we could have easily won the game as well.”

Much of the frustration was caused by the outstanding form of Hearts Craig Gordon but observing allegiances to the goalkeeper’s mystical union, Owain would not curse his opposite number:-

“Not at all. He had a couple of good saves. Hearts are a good team and we had a couple of chances early on. On another day we would maybe have been able to take one but that’s the way the game panned out.

“We managed to stop them as much as we possibly could, but they managed to get that goal with 10 minutes left in the game. We had done everything right, the tactics were spot on - we had Hearts playing in front of us and that’s exactly where we wanted them to be. But they got in with a few minutes to go in the game and that was enough to win the game for them.

“There were a lot of positives from the game on Saturday - our shape, our discipline within our shape, our distances, on the counter-attack we looked really strong, we created a number of great chances against the best team in the league, as is stands. If we’re creating these chances against these teams then we’re doing something right.”

Fans might see the Fife derby as a good game to bounce back in but Owain merely viewed it as a welcome early chance to record their next win.

“That game we’ve just played is just another game and what we’ve got ahead of us now is another game, another opportunity for us to get three points on the board, regardless of who we’re playing against. It will be a decent one against Raith and one we’re really looking forward to.”

No team in the Championship has conceded fewer goals than Dunfermline this season and the Pars goalkeeper was sure that the defensive success was down to the application on the training ground.

“It doesn’t surprise me because of everything we do from day to day and the amount of work we do. We focus on team shape and different things like that, which is crucial. I always say this, the first thing a team looks for in a game is to have a foundation and that starts with a clean sheet.

“You only need one goal to win a game, at the end of the day, so if you can keep the backdoor shut then you’ve given yourself the best opportunity to go and win the game.

“There’s definitely plenty of positives. The game on Saturday is done, we need to forget about that. We need to take the positives, which there were plenty of, and take them into the game on Wednesday night. It will be a completely different game in comparison to the one at Tynecastle. This is our fortress, this is our pitch. We know how to play here, this is our home pitch, so it will be a different game in many ways.”

The 2-2 draw against Raith Rovers in the first match at Stark’s Park gave an insight into the task ahead and Owain agreed:-

“They’re a decent side, there’s no two ways about it. When we played them at their place you could see they commit players forward, they try to get into your face and they press.

“On the flip side, when they’ve got the ball they’re not shy of taking the ball, they try to play. So, we know what we’re up against. Naturally, it’s going to be a tough game, regardless of where we both are in the league. It’s a derby but we’ll concentrate on us and hopefully we’ll get the win.”

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