Coach Gary Montignani gave his post match thoughts after the reserves successfully saw off Hamilton Academical 3-1 to progress, for the second season running, to the final of the cinch SPFL Reserve Cup.
“Ultimately it was a very good game. I thought we controlled large spells of the first half after taking the first five minutes to settle into the game. Between then and half time we controlled the game. We wanted our midfielders on the ball, we wanted to control the tempo and the possession of the ball and I thought we did that.
“We scored a couple of really good goals, especially the second one from Owen Moffat at the back post. Exactly what we want to work on – working the ball down the sides and allowing the opposite wing back getting in to get on the end of it. I thought that we played some really good stuff and overall we are happy with the win.”
Gary was pleased to be able to start with such a strong looking team, one that demonstrated that the first team squad can now field two elevens. “It is a mark of the professionalism of the players that we have got. The manager is not forcing anyone to play, the boys who played today were knocking the door to say “can I play ninety minutes”. It makes my job a hundred times easier when these guys are desperate to play.
“Rhys Breen and Sam Fisher have been out for a long time so for them to come through ninety minutes unscathed is excellent for them. We spoke to them in particular at the start just saying mistakes will happen. There would be rustiness but we are not too bothered, just dust it off.
“Everybody has a massive part to play between now and the end of the season, that’s what we spoke about after the game. Everybody wants to make sure that they are sharp and ready to go. We are really happy to get as many of the boys minutes as possible.
“Owen Moffat, Joe Chalmers and Paul Allan all got ninety minutes. To be fair probably a month or so ago that was not far off a starting eleven that we would have been playing. It shows where the squad is at the moment, it is really healthy, momentum is with us hopefully and my job with the reserves in particular is to make sure everybody is sharp and ready to go when the manager needs them.”
The result sets up a Reserve Cup final against Livingston and Gary closed “when you get to the semi final of any competition, you want to get to the final. We are delighted to do that and see what comes.”
Match Report: 26/03/24 – Hamilton Academical 1 Dunfermline 3
