Paul Burns Post United

"The supporters were behind us and I think they could feel that we were going to get something out of the game.

Paul Burns scored the winner at Tannadice back in August but his emotions were a bit different when he spoke exclusively to the website after the home defeat to Dundee United. Gary Mason's sending off and the referee's decisions were the major talking point: -

"From where I was I don't think it was a sending off, then later we go through on goal and Daly sticks out a hand and gets a yellow card - that's just football."

Johnny Russell was the United player that Gary Mason challenged and even Russell felt that it was not a sending off. Paul agreed with the United man's description of the decision as "harsh":-

"It was not ideal to lose a man when you are two goals down but it was obvious that we bounced back in the second half. We came out and gave a positive reaction to it and were very unlucky.

"We got ourselves back into it at 2-1 but they went up the park and scored. I thought when we were at 2-1 that we could maybe get something out of the game but the third goal just killed the game entirely. They started passing the ball about whereas I think before that they were panicking."

Paul related what the Manager had asked of his team at the half time interval:-

"He just asked us for a reaction and to go out and show something because at the day were 2-0 down, a man down and we had nothing to lose. We gave that reaction but it's alright doing it in the second half but we need to do it from the start more often. We shouldn't need to be 2-0 down before we see a reaction.

"We started the game pretty well but I don't know what happened - wee breaks of the ball maybe not falling for us, falling for them and going in for them. We are just not getting the luck just now."

Last Saturday at Inverness the team put in a good performance and this week Paul felt that they didn't really play that badly against Dundee United:-

"Going a man down and them being 2-0 up at half time was the contributing factor. They had the extra man and they made it tell after going 3-1 up. Maybe in the first half at 2-0 they passed it about and made us look out of it. Second half we came out and looked like the team that was on top even with ten men.

"The supporters were behind us and I think they could feel that we were going to get something out of the game. The players certainly believed that but the third goal killed it entirely.

"We can remain positive from that second half display when down to ten. We need to work hard and make sure that things start to go for us."

With 14 minutes left the 2-1 score at Inverness looked like meaning Dunfermline would end the day two points adrift at the foot of the SPL table but a Keith Lasley equaliser followed by a Tom Hateley winner three minutes from time meant it was status quo at the end.

"It is early in the season yet,. We have had a bad result today but we can bounce back and pick up from here."

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