It was with refreshing and humorous honesty that Dunfermline goalkeeper Paul Gallacher summed up his terrific save against United on Saturday.
While there was wild talk from others about his stop from Dundee United midfielder Scott Robertson being akin to the famous Gordon Banks dive to thwart Pele in the 1970 World Cup, Gallacher chose a modest approach to his analysis.
“To be honest, I knew nothing about it,” he said of the dive to his left to block the low drive after 31 minutes of Saturday’s 1-0 victory. “I punched the ball clear at a corner and then it came back at me through some bodies and I managed to save it.
“If people are saying it is world class then I will have to watch it on the telly because I don’t have a clue what happened.
“As for being as good as Gordon Banks come on! Compare me to a Scottish goalie!”
Continuing the modesty theme, Gallacher was keen to highlight the parts played by the players in front of him as the Pars made it four games unbeaten on their comeback to the top flight.
“The boys in front of me were fantastic I have to give the credit to them,” he added. “United were hurting from last weekend (when they lost to Celtic) and caused us problems but the boys battled through and we got our reward.
“We have had a great start but we know we can improve. We got the first win last weekend at St Johnstone and have looked to build on that. The aim is to get better every week.”
The Pars took advantage of the extreme profligacy in front of goal from United, who created chance after chance but couldn’t convert.
By way of punishment, with just five minutes left, up popped Paul Burns to fire the ball past goalie Dusan Pernis to send the sizeable away support wild.
Gallacher revealed that his teammates are still using the fact that many people wrote them off as relegation candidates to spur themselves on.
“People were obviously going to tip us for the drop, it wasn’t unexpected,” he said. “And the boys have used that as a bit of inspiration.”
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“We have a winning mentality. The lads won the first division last season and in training they are at each other from the word go. We also have goals in the team and a lot of forward-thinking players.
“It is great to score late goals because it doesn’t give the opposition much time to come back at you. It says a lot about the spirit we have at the club.”
Manager Jim McIntyre is, meanwhile, doing a fine job in playing down expectations despite the good start.
“We are thrilled to have come to Dundee United and won,” he said. “If I am being honest I would say that our start has been better than we expected.
“We are unbeaten after four games, which is great after coming up from the first division. But we need to keep grounded and make sure our feet stay on the ground because this is a very difficult league.
“Paul Gallacher’s save was the key moment. The first goal in any game is crucial and it can change the face of any game. We have carried on where we left off in the first division but we will keep our feet on the ground.”
For United, it was a case of missed opportunities. The home side failed to convert the barrowload of chances they created moments former striker David Goodwillie would have thrived on.
The point wasn’t lost on manager Peter Houston, who said, “It is frustrating that we have lost our best player. David Goodwillie might have taken some of those chances.”
The statistics were striking, with the home side having 22 attempts on goal to the Pars’ four. They also won 13 corners to the visitors’ one.
Cross after cross swept along the front of Gallacher’s goal without a United boot or head directing the ball into the net.
Midfielder John Rankin said: They have had one shot on target and it has been a sucker punch for us. That is the nature of the beast at times we just have to get on with it.
“We created chances and we will take confidence from that, but we have to do better. Their keeper had a fantastic save and at the other end they have one and it goes in. It is frustrating.”