Positive Performances boost to Pars
Thursday, 26th Jan 2023Matches against Championship sides provide boost to team confidence clams captain
Pars captain Kyle Benedictus was obviously disappointed with the result against Dundee but thought that Dunfermline again gave a good account of themselves. There is no doubt that they went there intent on winning. It was a competition that they wanted to do well in but on Tuesday and on Saturday against teams from a higher league matched both of them. Kyle felt that the 4-2 scoreline did not fully relate the story of the game:-
“Obviously towards the end when we were trying to push for that second goal, we left three v three at the back and they have capitalised when we were going for it. That’s what happens when you are chasing to try and make it two all. I thought the boys gave everything again on another tough pitch and it was another positive performance.
“Similar to Saturday I thought we could have been a goal up maybe in the first fifteen minutes given our chances. I keep saying it, if we keep creating these chances some of them are going to go in.
“I have not seen it back but I think there was a foul on me for their first goal. He pulled me and the coaching staff and the manager said it looked a foul to them. These things sometimes go for you and sometimes they don’t.
“We got it back to one all and probably just switched off at a corner. The manager made a triple change just thirty seconds before and sometimes people don’t know where they should be and switch off at that moment in time. When you are playing against teams in a higher league they are going to be able to do that to you.
“Look what we have produced in these last two games. We were unfortunate in both the games and it just shows you where we can go. As I have said from the start of the season, in the league that we are in we need to win games. We have been doing that, we have got three months left of our season and we just need to do what we have been doing against the teams that we play in the league and you never know where we will be come the end of the season.”
Defeats this season have been rare, just three - against Ross County, Montrose and now Dundee. Kyle predicted that by the time Saturday’s League One match against Clyde comes around they will be ready to bounce back to their best form:-
“The boys will not be down. As soon as we got into the changing room the manager told us how proud he was of us again. Playing in the game I see how much they are giving for the club. We were in there with the music on after the game so it will not put me down. We will recover on Wednesday and be back in Thursday to prepare for another massive game on Saturday.”
When any team with ambitions to rise out of a division gets knocked out of a cup competition that might distract from the main target, some would say that is no bad thing. Qualifying that with recognition of the honourable nature of the knock outs, Kyle agreed:-
“You could say that. If we had won on penalties in the League Cup as well we would have been through. There are two cups where we have been put out in penalty shoot outs. On Tuesday we went, gave it our best shot and for most of the game we have matched them until 85 minutes when they got their third goal.
“It shows how much confidence the boys can take on to the games that matter most to us in the league.”
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