Dunfermline is right up Chalmers Street
Friday, 7th Oct 2022JC: - Alloa - “They are a team that is good to play against, you know that you are in a game and they play open end to end, exciting stuff.”
With four defeats to Alloa Athletic in the last two seasons they were in the same league it began to feel that the Wasps were a bit of a bogey team as far as Dunfermline is concerned but Joe Chalmers who has faced Alloa with Falkirk, Inverness Caley Thistle and Ayr United feels that it is not just Dunfermline who find the Clackmannan side tough opponents. He told the website:-
“They are always difficult games against Alloa especially going there. They always play some decent football and they have players with good experience in their team.
“It has always been a difficult game but they are a team that is good to play against, you know that you are in a game and they play open end to end, exciting stuff.”
Joe has played Alloa Athletic sides under the management of Barry Smith, Jim Goodwin, Peter Grant and Brian Rice, he added:-
“Through all those managers and games that I have played against them, the spine of the team has always been there - Scott Taggart, Andy Graham and Kevin Cawley, I think that helps and it has always done them well.”
The first league game this season saw the Pars win 1-0 the week after the sides drew 1-1 in the Premier Sports Cup. Joe is full of hope that three points can be taken from the league match at the Indodrill this Saturday:-
“You have to be confident going into these games and want to win. With the position that we are in, the size of the club and the expectation, as players we have to expect to try and win every game. It doesn’t always work like that, there will be times that you slip up but we go into each game confident.”
Some of that confidence may come from playing the same team again so soon. Joe does not find that a problem but pointed out:-
“You are playing against the same players all the time but you need to come up with different ways of playing, none of the games are the same.
“Teams will go back and look at what happened in previous games to try and work out ways to win. Every game is different but I don’t have any problem playing the same teams, that has always been the way that it is.”
Joe and the whole team were disappointed with the way the Peterhead match ended and he talked about how that had been reviewed:-
“We spoke about it and we just need to learn from it. Next time if we are in that situation - leading late on, we need to manage the game better and make better decisions. It was disappointing but all we can do is try and learn from it and if we are in that situation again, we know we cannot afford to make any mistakes.
“When we came in after our day off we spoke about what happened but once we went out to train that day the gaffer said that we weren’t to dwell on it - ‘it’s done now, we need to learn from it, move on and get on with the training.’ It has just been about focussing on Alloa.”
Preparing for Saturday’s match will probably have addressed not giving away free kicks since conceding the two late goals to Peterhead was sore to take for players and fans alike, Joe added:-
“Just before the second goal they had a similar free kick that led to a corner. Obviously we gave away the fouls in the heat of the moment but when you see the ball you go for it, it is hard not to. We still had to defend them better but I think at that stage we could have looked after the ball better ourselves, got it into their half and kept it there rather than inviting them on to us a bit. We could have played it into the corners or played an extra pass to take the sting out of it but we let them get the momentum.”
Peterhead proved to be stiffer opposition than their league place suggested but no stiffer than had been anticipated.
“The manager told us all week to expect a tough game. We can assume teams will come here and try and slow the game down and maybe be defensive. It is on us to break them down, we probably didn’t move the ball fast enough or get the tempo up to where we would have liked.
“We were a bit flat from the start, we tried to get going and we did get ourselves into a good position. Sometimes in these games when teams make it hard for you, it can take 60, 70, 80 minutes until you eventually break them down. You cannot always blast teams away in the first half. Obviously it was the management of the game that killed us in the end.”
A change at half time led to Joe playing a bit deeper and he explained:-
“Matty Todd’s strength is getting forward and running in behind. Chris Mochrie is more creative and gets into those higher spaces. I try and keep the balance and allow them to get further forward and let them do most of the attacking. I sit a wee bit deeper and keep the game ticking. That is probably more my strength.”
Peterhead result aside Joe is really enjoying his football under James McPake. The 28 year old signed by John Hughes in January this year revealed:-
“I feel as fit as I ever have, the training during the week is hard but it is really good. It is a fit group of boys and I am just enjoying playing.
“I love it here since I have arrived I have really enjoyed being at the club. Obviously playing every week feels good. At the start of this season I wasn’t playing as well as I could but obviously with more game time I have grown in confidence and I’m just really enjoying myself.”
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