Matty Todd - he’s one of our own
Wednesday, 8th Mar 2023“It is magic and we are just delighted with the three points tonight”
Having been a lifelong Pars fan and supported them from the terracings himself Matty Todd knows exactly what it feels like to watch from the sidelines while filled with every schoolboy’s ambition to go on to play for your club. Add to that the emotions of scoring a goal against one of your club’s greatest rivals in front of a sell out crowd at The KDM Group East End Park and you have be afraid that someone might waken you from your dream.
In May 2018 a month before his 17th birthday Matty moved up from Fife Elite having started in the Dunfermline youths seven years before. The former Dunfermline High School pupil had been signed up by Stephen Wright for Dunfermline after turning down an offer from Celtic.
Turn the clock forward to March 2023, Matty has made 80 first team appearances and forged himself a crucial role in James McPake’s team. He has started every League One match this season and on Tuesday night he was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match Award. With a bottle of fizz tucked under his left arm Matty confirmed that he had heard his name being chanted by the fans:-
“Yes, I heard them chanting and it’s great to hear. It is what I wanted it to be like when I was a young kid coming up through the academy, to hear my name from the stand.”
The elated Dunfermline fans couldn’t help but choose to sing the 21 year old’s praises after he scored a 75th minute goal right in front of the McCathie Stand in a full stadium, he confessed:-
“It is absolutely unbelievable, I loved it if I’m being honest. I didn’t have the greatest of first halves but as I say all the time, I want to keep adding goals to my game and especially to do it out there on a night like this, it is great. It is unbelievable. I’m just delighted, it is another goal to add to the season that I’ve had. I want to keep adding more and more for the last nine games that we have got.”
The second half strike took Matty’s tally to ten for the season and alongside Craig Wighton as the club’s top goalscorer in this League one season.
“Adding another to make it ten just made it a little bit better. There was a lot on the game but our full focus was on us. We didn’t have a look at the league position or the league points. Our full focus was on what we could do to hurt Falkirk tonight. The second half performance showed that we can certainly do that.
“We had worked on things Saturday, Sunday and Monday and I think the boys looked a wee bit nervy in the first half. At times we didn’t know whether to press or sit off. Fair play to Falkirk, they have good movement in the forward areas on the pitch but we restricted them to one headed chance and Deniz (Mehmet) hasn’t had anything else to do.”
After a first half that his manager described as being on the boring side, it seemed that everything had been reserved for the second half. “It looked like it anyway” said Matty. “We had a game plan tonight but in the first half it never really worked. We sat too deep off Falkirk even though we limited them to chances, we never really created anything. The manager just told us at half time, can we press them a wee bit higher?
“I think it showed with the second goal, pressing the goalkeeper down, he makes a wee mistake and it’s a goal. It is one for the Dunfermline fans, I thought that they were unbelievable tonight. They have backed us through everything this season and we just want to keep them happy and coming out in their numbers like that.
“It is magic and we are just delighted with the three points tonight” but even as a huge Dunfermline Athletic fan, Matty would not be drawn on claiming it as a hugely significant victory.
“To be fair, it’s another game another three points and we have got to fully focus on Saturday now. We still have a job to do and hopefully we can go up to Peterhead and pick up another three points.”
Watch Matty’s interview with Jordan Burt for PARStv
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