Player of the Round
Friday, 24th Apr 2009Paul Gallacher: " If we win and get to the Final I will be absolutely ecstatic."
Pars goalkeeper Paul Gallacher was named the Scottish Cup player of the sixth round. Gallacher helped secure a Semi Final place for Dunfermline by saving two penalties in the shootout which ended the Homecoming Scottish Cup replay against Aberdeen.
The Quarter Final tie finished 0-0 after 90 minutes and extra time failed to separate the teams, but Gallacher emerged as the hero by saving penalties from Aberdeen's Scott Severin and Richard Foster to give his side a 4-2 penalties victory.
The former Norwich City keeper who arrived at East End Park in August 2007, played down his role in the victory, modestly turning the praise on his team mates.
"It was a hard game for us, but I thought the boys played fantastic and battled well. I wouldn't say I was the hero, I think Graham Bayne was more of the hero, he was under a lot of pressure to score that goal to get us through. When the penalties come, there is no pressure on the goalkeeper, you just have to try to make a save and luckily I made two."
Despite his modesty, the Pars goalkeeper was delighted to be going through to the Semi Final after being written off before setting foot on Pittodrie to face the SPL side.
"It's absolutely fantastic, I was over the moon, and the fans were jumping all over us. We've not given them much to cheer about this season, but that's something that will make them happy and hopefully they will come out in their numbers for the semi-final."
Despite his heroics in the previous round against Aberdeen, the 29-year-old says they will be taking nothing for granted against their next SPL opponents.
"We just go and treat every game the same" he insisted, "hopefully on Sunday we can get a few goals and win the match. SPL teams let you play a bit more; you get more time on the ball than you do in the First Division where it is a bit more rushed. SPL teams let you play football and we have good players in our team that can do that when we have played SPL opposition of late.
"We are under no illusions that it is going to be a hard game. They are fighting for their lives, it is a derby match and it is a huge match but hopefully we will do alright on the day."
Paul is optimistic that Jim McIntyre can take the Pars to their fourth final in five seasons:-
"He is still playing and involved with us every day and I think he has got the blend just right. Our league form has not been great but their cup form has been fantastic. We'd like to be greedy and have a bit of both. At the moment the cup is looking good for us since we are in the Semi Final.
"The Manager has done a great job, obviously it all came so quickly for him. I have known Macca for years and I know what kind of guy he is. He works us hard but gives us a bit of fun in training as well. Hopefully we can do well for him in the cup. If we win and get to the Final I will be absolutely ecstatic."
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