Fog wipes out Wighton goal
Sunday, 19th Dec 2021“We had chances and on another day we maybe do take a couple of them.”
After impressing in the practice match against Livingston in midweek Pars striker Craig Wighton was given his first Dunfermline start under John Hughes on Saturday in the Championship match away to Kilmarnock. He scored a superb goal in 20th minute to propel his side back into the match after going behind to a disputable penalty in just the third minute. Craig was philosophical about the abandonment due to fog midway through the second half and the resultant deletion of his appearance and goal from the record books:-
“I think that sums my season up. It is just frustrating. I thought for half an hour in the first half we were really good. We didn’t start the second half great but we were coming into it.”
Due to the thickening fog, play was halted by referee Craig Napier in 63 minutes. He agreed with the two managers that they would give the conditions five minutes to improve but that didn’t happen and the decision to abandon the game had no opposition. Craig commented:-
“I didn’t think the fog was bad but once you stop and look around at the crowd in the stands it was probably a lot worse. When you are in the game you are focused on that. It was the right thing to do but just frustrating once you were down there and well in the game at one each. We were on top at that point. We put a bit of pressure on them and it was one of those things.”
Dunfermline have only lost one league match in which Craig has started but against Killie he found himself playing slightly deeper in a pocket behind Lewis McCann upfront.
“The manager asked me to play just behind the striker and I have played there before but I was just happy to be back in the team. I thought I did well in the first half in that area giving them a problem whether the centre half comes in on me or the midfielder drops.”
Craig has already scored more goals for Dunfermline than he did at his former clubs, Dundee and Hearts despite making more appearances for both. His strike at Rugby Park would have been his first of this league season after notching three in the Premier Sports Cup. The goal came after Graham Dorrans fed Lewis McCann who then swiftly sent Ryan Dow down the left. Ryan got the better of his marker, Jack Sanders, on the left edge of the Killie box and his cut back was swept in at the near post by the 24 year old:-
“I got lucky when McCann misses it. It was just instinct to hook it towards the goal and it goes in. It was a good finish but it won’t count now.”
As Dunfermline took the game to Kilmarnock they did not look like a side struggling at the foot of table. Craig feels that they need to start better and stop conceding early goals:-
“In the last couple of weeks we have conceded early but I don’t think that it was a penalty either these decisions seem to be going against us just now. Once that happened I thought for half an hour after that we were the better team.
“We passed the ball really well, created some chances that on another day we might have taken them. In the second half we were coming back into the game, we had a few half chances that put them under pressure, then it was just one of these things.”
There were positives to emerge out of the Rugby Park mist:-
“The way we passed the ball was the best since the Ayr game. We have kept the ball and created chances. It is something that we need to do more often and we need to start games better because we are giving ourselves a mountain to climb every game just now.
“Once we get the first goal we then need to go and build on that. We had chances and on another day we maybe do take a couple of them.”
Craig Wighton spoke to Jordan Burt for ParsTV
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