Jim Jefferies post East Stirlingshire
Sunday, 2nd Nov 201402/11/14: Jim Jefferies is pleased to be safely into the draw for the Fourth Round of the William Hill Scottish Cup on Monday:-
- - Listen to this Jim Jefferies interview
- - Watch Jim Jefferies Pars TV Post Match Interview
"We were favourites going into the cup tie, teams like East Stirling have nothing to lose, so we need to handle it. The one thing that you have to guard against is giving them any hope or a sniff if you are sloppy. So we started the game really well, the only criticism would be that for all the possession we had, we were worthy of being two or three goals clear at half time. A lot of it was down to bad breaks and heroic defending at times. The goalie had a couple of great saves.
"When it is only one you have to go out and get that second. That was the message at half time. Keep playing the way we were doing, don't let the tempo drop because we had the advantage of being full time to part time. We would get the rewards late on in the game.
"We said that it was all about the second goal, we got it and then we could have scored more. You have to give them credit for the goal to make it 3-1. The boy (David Greenhill) had a pop at goal and it was unstoppable. He scored the goal of the game, there is no doubt about that.
"It is good that we came back from that. We picked ourselves up and it was a great move for the penalty. I thought Shaun Byrne came into his own in the second half. He was excellent and once he was driving at them he has great composure.
"It opened up for the goal, he was thinking of passing it to Lewis Spence. He feinted it and a wee gap opened up. He slotted it away with great composure. You would always fancy him in those positions. He was excellent throughout the second half. He was getting on the ball and making wee passes that get between the lines.
"We have been playing reasonably well but round about the last third, we have not been making the right decisions and getting the goals that we deserve. We said before the game that if we get two or three goals it would give us a bit of a lift.
"All these games are banana skins, look at Raith Rovers having a torrid time against a Junior side yesterday. You have to deal with it right. I felt that game was won when the second goal went in."
He was happy that twenty one year old Faissal El Bakhtaoui got two but could not be described as happy since the manager felt that he should have had five.
"If he takes all his chances, he will be scoring a lot of goals. His decision making has got to be improve. He tries to make it spectacular but he should be getting more straightforward goals. He is a terrific talent, I gave him his debut here against Stenhousemuir, he has had problems of late with niggly injuries but he is always there or thereabouts.
"We got a late call off after Lewis Martin decided his back injury was too sore to play with. He is still sore and we will not take any risks with him. It is not a long term issue but Stuart Urquhart slotted in well today."
When Dunfermline were awarded a penalty six minutes from full time. The manager joked:-
"I was wanting to hold hands with Gozie on the touch line just to make sure (that he didn't take the setpiece). He knew that when Ross Millen is on the pitch, he is the penalty taker. Ross took it brilliantly; it is easy to do that when you are 3-1 up. I am not sure if he would have tried the same had it been 0-0. It was a great penalty, when he is not there Moffat takes it but he is the nominated penalty taker."
The draw for the next round of the William Hill Scottish Cup is on Monday and JJ claimed that the club wanted to get as far possible in cup competitions. It creates money and keeps interest for the players.
"The priority is in the league but things like today keep things boiling, the fans were happy with the display today. They know that is never easy if you don't do the right things. We did the right things today and made it easy, you have got to give them credit for that."
- - Listen to the thoughts of the East Stirlingshire manager Craig Tully
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