Dunfermline’s Reserve team coach Gary Montignani felt that a very good performance from his side secured a fine away win against Queen of the South. Speaking to the website after the 4-2 victory on Tuesday afternoon Gary said:-
“I didn’t think we started the game particularly well in the first five to ten minutes. They went 1-0 up when we just didn’t get into our rhythm quick enough. Our distances in and out of possession were just a wee bit off. Once we settled down after that I felt we took control of the game.
“Their second goal came from us maybe sleeping a wee bit at our own setplay which was disappointing but after that we took real control of the game. We had Taylor Sutherland and Jake Sutherland up top and they were a real handful all day. I don’t think Queens could cope with their pace and power.
“Liam Hoggan gave us unbelievable legs up and down the left side of the park. Sam Young and Miller Fenton were leading us from the back as well, so once we got over that wee sticky patch in the first half, we were really good.”
Gary felt the only other criticism of the first half was that it became a game of ‘basketball’ at times. He had just commented to his Assistant coach, Joe Chalmers that he felt that the side needed to slow it all down a bit when they seized the opportunity to score a third goal:-
‘It was just a bit frantic. I actually said to Joe as Liam clipped it and went direct round the side that we needed to slow the game down but we scored the third goal. But that’s the decisions that they make on the park, they smell blood and they get themselves a goal.
“The second half was more controlled, I felt that we never really gave them a sniff. Even sitting off the game at times they just couldn’t break us down. There were good bits in the first half but second half, although we didn’t score, it was a proper performance.”
Gary praised goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet who after an ankle injury, played his first match since July:-
“It is great to get him back and credit to him. It is no secret the injury list that we have got, we knew it was going to be a young squad so the manager had a chat with him and put it to him. Would he rather train or get minutes? Deniz wanted to get minutes under his belt even knowing it would be a young squad. That will be massively beneficial for him and hopefully puts him right into contention going forward. I’m delighted for him. The way he handles himself and the way he talks to the guys in front, he is a credit to himself and it was great to have him.”
Deniz displayed sharpness on his return diving to his left to keep out a free kick from the edge of the box that he must have seen late as the ball cleared the five man defensive wall. Gary stressed how important that was:-
“To be fair with an ankle injury, as a goalie you are springing off that and it could be in the back of your mind. He certainly put that to bed, I thought he was excellent.”
After losing the opening Reserve League matches away to Dundee and at home to Kilmarnock Gary was pleased to get points on the board:-
“We spoke about that as a group although we felt the last two performances were decent, the other development bit is getting results on the board. It’s a difficult place to come but we are happy to get up the road with three points.”
Even after going out on loan last week to League Two Bonnyrigg Rose, Taylor Sutherland was available and he combined with his younger brother Jake to inflict the damage scoring two goals each to establish a two goal lead before half time. Gary commented:
“Sending Taylor out on loan was a bit of a conundrum when we were short in numbers but we had a conversation internally. Holding him back for our benefit was not for Taylor’s benefit. I have no doubt that he will go to Bonnyrigg between now and January and be a real handful for anyone in that league.
“It is great to get him into a first team environment and let’s see how well he does. For me his quality is on show. We have seen that in the previous games and against Queens today what a joy it must be to play upfront with your brother. It is fantastic for him and his family but the two of them were terrific. They are definitely promising prospects.”
Match Report: Queen of the South Reserves 2 Dunfermline Reserves 4
