Allan and Gibson on same pitch again

“I knew what I was going to do when I got the ball. It is a position that I am familiar with so I knew if I played in that role I would be comfortable to take the ball and with it.”

After starting the first four competitive matches of the Pars season, 21 year old Paul Allan had to wait until eight matches in until he started his first Championship match of the current campaign against Queen of the South on Saturday. Despite the result Paul was pleased to get the call and the opportunity to try and help the team still seeking its first league victory:-

“I have been after it since the start of the season, it is just something that I want to do. I want to be playing games especially here at Dunfermline. I have been here a long time so it is good to get that chance but not the result we wanted today.”

Willie Gibson playing for Dunfermline v Airdrieonians, 22nd August 2009

The young midfielder has been signed with Dunfermline since the age of ten and on Saturday he was up against 37 year old Willie Gibson who was playing for Dunfermline the very day that Paul Allan won the Young Pars Penalty Kick competition at half time in the match against Airdrieonians on 22nd August 2009!

Putting in a performance defying his years the Queens veteran was a real contender for the Man of the Match and Paul put in a tireless effort against him and his team mates to put an end to Dunfermline’s winless run. He admitted that the scrappy game could have gone a lot better:-

“I just feel that we never started great or in the first half in general and a draw at half time was fair. Second half I thought we looked a bit better, we created a few chances and I thought if anything we would nick the 1-0.”

Paul Allan was presented Young Pars Penalty Kick Trophy from Simon Wiles, 22nd August 2009

All that went badly wrong when Lee Connelly shot the home side into the lead just six minutes from the end of the match. The manager had warned at half time about the need to take more care and Paul continued:-

“The game wasn’t great but we needed to be confident when we got the ball. We looked a bit panicky in the first half and I feel at the start of the second half we did get the ball down and tried to create chances.

“It was a cheap goal to give away and we need to look at doing better. If we want to be winning games we can’t be giving goals away like that especially at the stage we are at just now.”

Unfortunately it has not gone our way today but we just need to move on to the game against Kilmarnock.”

It was just Paul’s sixth start of his ten Dunfermline appearances. He has amassed experience while out on loan with spells at Stenhousemuir, Brechin City and Albion Rovers but he still feels as though he is still on the fringe at East End.

“I had a good run in the League Cup and we did well in that so it was just about trying to get that chance when it comes and it was good to get minutes in the bag.

“I felt comfortable from the start and I know that the first half especially it was a quite scrappy game but when I got the ball I knew what I was going to do when I got the ball. It is a position that I am familiar with so I knew if I played in that role I would be comfortable to take the ball and with it.”

The confidence comes from the training ground claimed Paul who described it has having been good right through from pre-season. Paul has been working hard throughput and although the team had not started off great he claimed morale was still high and they just need that win to kick them on and really get going. Unfortunately there is a two week gap before the next opportunity comes around to put right the pain of Palmerston Park:-

“It was not a great result for us going into the international break, we would rather have won. You want to win every game and it is not a great time for us to break off. We will train next week and try and kick on for the game against Kilmarnock. We will try to get a win in that game.”

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