Manager Post Albion Rovers
Saturday, 21st Nov 201521/11/15: AJ - "It was just the final product that we were lacking."
- - Listen to this Allan Johnston Interview
Allan Johnston summed up his post match feelings as "frustrated".
"We went ahead by scoring a really good goal from the corner; it was a great delivery from Ryan Wallace. To be fair once you go ahead, very rarely do teams come back, but we lost a goal from a free kick. The boy has won the header and to be fair he is good in the air but it is the second ball and a wonderstrike right into the top corner. I don't think anybody could have done any better with that.
"Obviously it gave Albion Rovers a wee bit of momentum for the rest of the first half. Even though we held our own, with the quality that we have got we should be beating teams. No disrespect to Albion Rovers but we should be winning these types of games."
The failure to win was not for the want of trying. The manager continued:-
"In the second half we had a lot of pressure and a lot of possession in really good areas. We need that bit of composure in the final third, picking the right pass and working the keeper more because for all the possession and all the good areas we were in we probably didn't work the keeper enough. That is what we have to get back to and make sure that we are scoring goals again."
The manager made a double substitution in the second half bringing on Michael Paton and David Hopkirk and the latter nearly made an immediate impact:-
"Hoppy nearly scored as soon as he came on, he was really unfortunate, he was just a half yard away. We had a lot of good chances but you have got to finish them off. We annoy afford to come to places like this and drop points. It is crucial that we win games like this.
"It is frustrating because we had some turnout as well, the fans were unbelievable. We are gutted to let them down."
Allan Johnston agreed that it took a first class save two minutes from time to avoid a defeat, adding:-
"You are always liable to that when you are pushing so many forward trying to get goals. You leave yourself really exposed to the counterattack. To be fair to them they defended crosses and sat in really deep and made it hard for us. We have said to the boys that we need to make sure that we are finishing teams off."
The shut out record of 632 minutes was bound to go at some point but Josh Mullen's 20th minute strike was a real cracker:-
"You couldn't have asked for Sean (Murdoch) to do any better with that. My only criticism was that he won the first header and then he (Josh Mullen) was unchallenged at the edge of the box. We just switched off for a second; to be fair most people would have taken a touch but he just hit it first time and it went into the top corner. These things happen and we just have to make sure that we learn from it and not lose a goal like that again."
Asked if his side might have made it more of a battle, Allan replied:-
"The last thing you want to do is just launch it forward and pick up second balls. You have got to be physical as well. We need to learn that side of it as well, dig in as well as making pretty passes. We want to pass the ball and you can see from the amount of possession that we had in good areas that it worked for the majority of the game, it was just the final product that we were lacking."
Now three points behind their League One title rivals Ayr United, predictably that causes concern to the Pars manager:-
"You want to be top of the table so we are disappointed to be second but there is a long way to go yet in the season. We just have to make sure that we concentrate on ourselves and score goals because that is what we have been good at this season."
Next up is the William Hill Scottish Cup tie that pairs Dunfermline away from home against Ayr United.
"It is another big game, I am sure that we will take a big crowd and it is one that we are all looking forward to. Ayr have won today and are showing great consistency. They are scoring a few goals as well and makes it set for a cracker."
- - Listen to views of Albion Rovers manager Darren Young
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