Better team but beaten

On Tuesday night against Falkirk, Lewis Martin was voted Dunfemline's Man of the Match but that was rather a hollow award for the Pars central defender.

Immediately after the Petrofac Training Cup second round tie, Lewis said:-

"I thought we played better in the first half; we did really well and passed the ball about. The first fifteen minutes of the second half of almost every game so far, we have not started that well. Two silly mistakes cost us."

The 18 year old from Bonnybridge had wanted to impress against his local club and with his parents watching from the stand supporting him, and Dunfermline. The Pars were made to pay for not taking their first half chances:-

"We had a lot of chances but we need to put them away. If we had put them away we could have been one or two up at half time.

"At the first goal the guy (Botti Bia-Bi) got round Page and at the second I am not really sure but it came from the side and it was another mistake. When we got the goal and then they had a player sent off we just had to go for it. We thought we could score but they defended well and we couldn't break them down.

"It was a great game and the fans were always behind us, spurring us on but we just couldn't do it for them. At the end of the match we were devastated because we were the better team. Mistakes cost us as it did on Saturday."

The sending off of Botti Bia-Bi in 75 minutes lifted the Fifers hope of taking the cup tie into extra time. Lewis summarised the incident:-

"The boy was on the floor and when he got up I saw him go over to Ross Millen and he put the head on him. Down to ten men, they just sat in behind the ball after that."

Lewis has once again been called up to the Scotland Under-19 squad for next month's friendly against the Czech Republic at Cappielow Park in Greenock. The match will be played on Tuesday 2nd September, kick off 7.00pm.