Just a month ago, Chris Kane claimed that as a striker he obviously wants to score goals, but if Dunfermline won 1-0 and he wasn’t on the scoresheet, he would still be happy. On Saturday, he was on target and the Pars did get the win over Arbroath, but there was still an element of discomfort with that victory.
The players and management alike were disappointed with the team’s second half performance, which caused everyone watching to have a nervous final half hour. Chris had converted a 45th minute chance to give the Pars a 3-0 advantage at the interval, but surrendering two goals to Scott Stewart within 20 minutes of the restart gave bottom of the league Arbroath something to fight for.
“It was what you expect coming to places like this. They are down the bottom of the league, they want to try and make it as hard as possible for us. They did that in the second half,” Chris said after the match. “I thought first half we played really well, got the three goal lead but second half we were not good enough. From the very start we let them into it and it gave them a lift. From there we just never really put our foot on it to get the ball down. It made it a tough afternoon for us.”
3-0 up against a team fighting for their lives, Arbroath’s response should have been no surprise. Chris added, “of course they are not going to give up but 3-0 up you should be pushing for four and five. You know that it is never going to be as easy as that, they will come out all guns blazing like they did. It wasn’t good enough from us from the start of the second half. We will need to regroup and prove to ourselves that second half is forgotten about and not be like that next week.
”With games running out, Dunfermline can’t afford many more displays like the second period if they want to secure the play-off position they currently hold. The three points were certainly welcome, but that second half lapse leaves room for improvement before the next match at home to Partick Thistle. Three wins in a row have elevated Dunfermline to fourth place but Chris warns that they can’t get ahead of themselves either:-
“There are positives as well as negatives to take from that. The positives are three wins in a row and up to fourth, but at the same time we are still only three points off seventh. We can’t look at that and think that we are out of the danger zone because a couple of defeats we could be right back down. We move on to next week. We want to win that to keep ourselves in that fourth place.
”On a personal level, getting on the scoresheet again was very pleasing for the 29 year who scored his second goal in the last three matches for the Pars. “I’m always delighted to score a goal even if it’s from a yard out. I’m delighted to get that and 3-0 makes it harder for them to come back. Hopefully there will be many more.
”After being offered limited game time at his parent club St Johnstone, Chris has started five matches since making his Pars debut on 17th February at home to Arbroath. He makes it clear that he is enjoying his time at the KDM Group East End Park:
“I am really enjoying it, I wasn’t playing at St Johnstone, they have brought a few strikers in there and so I wasn’t going to get much game time. I said to the manager that I need to get game time and go out and play. I was delighted to get the opportunity here and I’m loving my time.”
Together with Alex Jakubiak on Saturday the two Dunfermline strikers gave Arbroath a torrid time in the first half and a highlight for Chris has been linking up in games with the likes of Matty Todd and Ewan Otoo. He praised his young team mates:-“Both of them are really good players. If I’m holding the ball up I’ve got them running, if they are holding it up I can run. No matter who I play with I always seem to get a good relationship. I’m happy playing with them.”
A recent niggle caused Chris to miss the games against Airdrieonians, Raith Rovers and Dundee United, but he is being cautious to ensure being fit for the run-in of the Championship campaign:-“I had a small niggle with my calf, just one of those ones that I needed to manage. I had that big injury and a lot of time out so I’m not going to push myself through games if I think that I am going to feel that I’m going to feel something. I have done that before, pushed through and been out for longer. I want to play as many games as I can before the end of the season, keep myself fit and see what happens.”
