Post Match Interviews

Highlights from interviews given by Jim Leishman, Greg Ross, Mark Burchill, Noel Hunt and Craig Brewster after the game against Dundee United at EEP.

Jim Leishman

Jim starts by singling out the positives of the game, giving praise to Scott Muirhead who returned from injury to give the side good wide options. He realises it was a very tight match and that draw was probably the fair result but he isn’t happy at being unable to gain three points in a home match. Jim stresses the importance of not losing the game following the embarrassment of the Celtic result, he also explains that it was a hard week although everyone was positive. With the youngsters in the team, Jim believes that the team will get stronger and stronger when these players pick up some experience, in this context he feels very pleased and encouraged with the clubs steps forward. Talking of the partnership growing between Hunt and Burchill he compares it to the previous strike force of Crawford and Brewster, in the sense they have a good understanding. Steven Simmons is injured following a tackle and that gives the team problems in mid-field, because of this Greg Ross has been pulled out of the Scotland U19 squad, which flew out to Portugal on the Sunday. The team changes from last week were put down to returns from injury but also because a few players just didn’t perform well enough to earn a place in the squad.

Greg Ross

Greg seems very mature in his handling of the fact that he will miss the Portugal trip with the Scotland U19 squad as he realises that Dunfermline comes first with the current midfield crisis. Greg comments on the fact that many excuse his occasional poor form because of his age, he doesn’t want that to be the case. He feels he plays for the first team because he is good enough and if that is the case then he should be able to take the criticism dealt to all players. Although disappointed at not getting a win, Greg feels it was important to make sure they gained a bit of respect back following the Celtic defeat.

Mark Burchill

Mark feels its good to get a point although a win would have been far better having given away a simple goal early on. Talking of the goal Mark believes it was a good break away and he was delighted to put it away, for his 10th goals in 18 starts, although he did have a few other half chance. The feeling is that if the team can keep their better players fit and integrate the new players coming in quickly then the only way is up for The Pars with a few more points. In relation to Livingston having a game in hand Mark is profound I saying that Dunfermline aren’t even looking at them anymore and are more focussed on catching Falkirk and even Dundee United. When asked about the similarity between Crawford and Brewster, Mark shoots the claims down but believes that if they can sustain the partnership they will not be far from the top striking partnership in the country.

Noel Hunt
Noel believes that they could well have won it in the end although it was a set back losing a goal early on. He praises Burchill’s shouldered finished as intelligent, because the ball was moving too much in the air for the header, a good strikers goal. On the Crawford and Brewster comparison, Noel feels that they are a long way off hitting the heights of that paring but is confident that they will just get better and better together.

Craig Brewster

Craig feels the weather was big factor in the game as the conditions were poor making it tricky for good football. He believes his side was the better in the first half with The Pars producing more in the second half, he was however disappointed to not keep a clean sheet following the opener. Talking about Stillie’s blunder he lets his keeper off the hook by placing blame on the conditions hold the ball up and stunting Derek’s judgement. When asked about the lack of wins he explains that his side will get a win when they deserve a win and the game was a draw in his eyes.