Manager Post Hibs

17/09/11: JM - "We deserved to win; on the balance of play and chances created, we should have taken the three points.

Having watched the match from the Centre Stand, Jim McIntyre felt that the final piece of the jigsaw was missing for Dunfermline against Hibs.

"Having lost our last two games, it wasn't good to go two goals down against the run of play. For me they were excellent in the first half but just couldn't put a final touch on to some of the good play we had.

"It is really important to score as quickly as we did after the deflected goal for Hibernian. That gave the boys a lift and got the crowd up a bit as well. It gave them that bit of belief. If there had been five or ten minutes in between things can maybe fall a bit flat."

Joe Cardle had a really busy game again with the crowd expecting so much from him when he got on the ball. The Manager thought that Joe had a quiet first half:-

"Second half he had a much better game but today our key player was David Graham. He played in between the lines and caused lots and lots of problems. On that form he is hard to handle. He has a low centre of gravity and can go both ways."

Macca felt that once Dunfermline got the first goal back they had a couple of good chances for headers that they just couldn't get on the end of. He acknowledged that his keeper had an important affect on the comeback.

"Paul Gallacher had a crucial save from O'Connor when it could have made it 2-0. That was a pivotal moment in the game. We deserved to win; on the balance of play and chances created, we should have taken the three points. You have got to credit Hibs, they came here, scored two goals and anytime you do that you always have a chance of getting something out of the game."

Jim McIntyre felt that to take a point from being 2-0 down in the Premier League is a good result but a point was the least the Pars deserved from the game.

"I am really proud of the players today because after losing the last two games, and losing a lot of goals - albeit 4-2 and 3-2 - that shows an abundance of character from my players to come back from 2-0 down especially at home. The defending was better today than it was last week and in the previous game but it could still be better. We will continue to work on it and continue to improve. Some of our players haven't played at this level; we are still learning and if you make mistakes invariably you get punished."

One player who is learning fast in the SPL is 20 year Ryan Thomson. This match saw him start his first SPL match and score his second goal in two games. The Manager went on:-

"We sent Ryan out on loan to Albion Rovers (in February 2010) and he did well. Paul Martin raved about him and said what a good job he did. We always thought he could play when he had a chance. That is why we gave him a two year contract. He came on and scored last week. He played 45 last week and although he started the game slowly, taking a while to get to grips with things but that's his first start and its at home. There was bound to be a bit of nerves but he grew and grew as the game went on. He scored another goal and one thing about him he gets into that box as the play is building up about him. With the type of wide players we have, he will look to hit the box and that's what you are looking for from a modern day midfielder."

Hibs boss Colin Calderwood considered it to have been a tricky game of football, good entertainment and the story of the game was the two goals at the start of the second half:-

"One that would hopefully take it in our favour and one that brings it right back in the balance.  Dunfermline played really well from 2-1 down; they were in the ascendancy and doing better especially on the ball."

He felt that his team had not switched off after going two up but needed to deal with that situation a good deal better:-

"We should have been in good control of it but their goal lifted the stadum."

O'Connor's yellow card for this influenced his managers decision to sub him

Many thought that Calderwood's substitutions went against him and questioned the need to make them at all given that Griffiths and O'Connor were doing so well:-

"It was for fresh legs upfront.  O'Connor was on a booking and the fact that we had to contest forward balls.  We had fire power on the bench and we must use it. The problem was that we didn't deal with what Dunfermline did with the ball and we didn't use the ball at all well in that last half hour.

"Dunfermline got on the front foot a little bit more and ended up looking more powerful. They thoroughly deserved to get an equalising goal if I am honest."