Managers Post Airdrie

25/08/12: JJ - "I said to them at half time that we were not here to draw the game, we are here to win the game.

Jim Jefferies felt that even though the goals came late they were thoroughly deserved and his side were the better side:-

"There were a few harsh words at half time but they were deserved. Not because we were playing through lack of effort, we played some really good football in the first half as well but whenever we got into good positions we were hitting them over the bar, shots that should never have been shots and the quality of the passing was all breaking down.

"We were doing stupid things; we had defenders out at the corner flag when we should have been stopping crosses coming in but you don't push people in the back and give them a free hit in that can cause you problems. That is what we did.

"Andy Kirk got it in the ear because he should have cleared when in a dangerous area and he ended up having to foul the boy. From that there were two shocking errors; nobody picked up the boy at the far post. The man who who was supposed to pick him up didn't do his job right and when the ball came in another one didn't do his job right and the boy had a free header.

"You let a team that has been working hard get a goal in front and it makes your job harder. But I have to say what a response from the players; you look for a response and for all the criticism they got for the first half they deserve praise because they were brave, they got on the ball and started using it better."

The good old 2012 summer seemed to assist the Fifers felt the gaffer after rain disrupted what had started off as a perfect August afternoon:-

"It made the pitch zippier and that suits us because of the way we do things in training. We dominated the second half; there was a wee flurry with balls into the box but you could see they were tiring badly. They were having to work very hard because we had so much possession and created a few chances.

"When Ryan Wallace went on he gave us that cutting edge. He has been out with a hamstring injury and only trained for a couple of days this week. He made a big impact."

Ryan crossed the ball that was put out for the corner from which Dunfermline scored the 80th minute equaliser and then three minutes later sent over the cross that Stephen Husband headed home for the winner. That was just what Jim Jefferies was looking for:-

"I said to them at half time that we were not here to draw the game, we are here to win the game. That is the attitude that we needed to take out there and fair play to them, when they equalised it would have been easy at that late stage to just say it has not been our day and we have struggled a bit to create chances. But they kept going and got their reward.

"It was thoroughly deserved because we were by far the better team. It was Andy Geggan's first time in midfield for us; he played a lot of games in midfield last season (at Ayr United) but he got into right back because of an injury and he did well there. I just left him there but today we got Jordan McMillan back into right back.

"Andy drives forward and I thought that he had an excellent game today. He played well in the first half as well and that let Jordan go back to full back. He was far better and more positive going forward in the second half because he was just taking the ball, taking the easy option and giving it back to Andy Dowie. That was his first five touches. I said to him at half time that was all he was doing:- 'You have the chance to get the return off the front men and then deliver a good ball in'. He did that in the second half."

The good result at New Broomfield is hopefully something that Dunfermline can take into Tuesday's Scottish Communities League Cup tie on Tuesday night. The Manager feels that could be a good spur and hopes his side can carry that forward and get a couple of wins under their belt.

Airdrie United manager Jimmy Boyle felt that his team handled Dunfermline well for most of the game

"We did get deeper. They forced a number of crosses into the box that we dealt with for most of the game but we didn't play nearly as well in the second half as we did in the first half. We gave the ball away cheaply that just encouraged them to come straight back at us. They scored two goals from that and I am very disappointed and to be honest, I do not think that we deserved to get beat in the game.

"We gave the ball away cheaply for the first one and at the second. Against a team like that they will punish you."