DUNFERMLINE v MOTHERWELL - Match Preview

Butcher decides to go for four at the back

Yes, after sitting through the agony of a football-less Saturday and having to console ourselves with watching the egg-chasing, we brave souls have been rewarded with two home games in the space of four days. With some Lithuanian diddy team to play on Saturday, our attentions first turn to Wednesday night’s match against Terry Butcher’s Motherwell side. After once again following up an excellent win – although after seeing Dundee Utd rip them apart, a win against Aberdeen isn’t exactly anything to shout about! – with a dismal defeat, the Pars faithful will no doubt be hoping to get back on track once again and prevent El Tel from indulging in his pre-victory bottle of wine – honestly, this bloke seems to have more bottles of wine than Tescos! Although despite the season reaching the ‘tickly bit’ – as Steve Bruce would call it – and the Pars sitting only eight points off the bottom, the three points don’t seem to be all that crucial nowadays due to how undeniably guff Richard Gough’s Livingston side are!

Some good things can be said of a free weekend however – well one thing – in the respect that the Pars injury victims have been given time to improve their fitness. With Scott Wilson, Derek Young and Aaron Labonte all very close to returning to the starting lineup, and Gary Dempsey having left the club – although the timing of Gary’s departure and the news that the Ballroom is to close down are, I’m sure, a coincidence – the Pars injury list will soon just be a piece of paper with the name ‘Greg Shields’ written on it, with Shieldsy still a few weeks away from returning to full training. With Hay’s last team selection – the fit-again Skerla replacing the recently impressive Ian Campbell – for the Kilmarnock match seemingly causing friction in the dressing room after the last match, Wednesday night’s starting eleven could honestly take any shape. With youngsters such as Ross and Campbell performing so well in recent matches it remains to be seen whether fit-again first-team regulars Labonte and Wilson will waltz back into the starting eleven this week.

Memories of the previous East End Park fixture between the two teams will not exactly be fond for Hay, with a number of fans calling for his resignation. After dominating proceedings early on and going ahead thanks to a Craig Brewster opener the Pars went on to sit deep in an attempt to defend the narrow lead. Needless to say Motherwell equalised – albeit through a cracking Scott MacDonald strike – and several Pars fans – still furious after the embarrassing UEFA Cup exit only a week earlier – cracked, urging Davie to get to…eh…somewhere else (not the pub!). Suffice to say that frustrations may not be as high this time around, however with the Pars desperately incapable of stringing two victories together in a, lets just say, less-than-brilliant campaign it wouldn’t exactly be correct to say that the Pars supporters are overjoyed with life at the moment!

With the winter weather truly beginning to kick in – as we enter spring by the way! – and this particular Pars fan still recovering from a horrendous cold – well, horrendous enough to stop me hitting the ‘toun’ on Friday night so it must have been bad! – it would be fair to say that a win against Motherwell would certainly do very nicely. With Livingston playing so unutterably guff these days, it wouldn’t take even the most clued-up of football fans or pundits to recognize that, with the Pars currently eight clear of their Almondvale rivals, two or three wins will undoubtedly secure SPL football (and another year of moaning about the pitch) next season. And with important home fixtures against the likes of Hearts and Hibs coming up shortly a win against Motherwell on Wednesday night is nothing short of imperative such is the run-in.

After a good turn and a very good atmosphere at the last home game – the destruction of Calderwood’s Dons’ side – it’s a case of more of the same please as we hope to erase the memories of a depressing defeat to Killie and a weekend watching egg-chasing!