Allan Smith may not be the most exotic name on the Dunfermline teamsheet, but the Pars hitman won’t care about that after producing two goals and a man of the match performance at East End Park on Saturday.
While midfielder Shaun Byrne provided the colour with a spectacular long-range drive, Smith’s bread-and-butter goals the first a tap-in following a goalkeeping blunder, the second a routine finish from 10 yards were every bit as important as the Fifers edged closer to the top of League One, just two points behind new leaders Forfar.
Smith’s second strike was significant as it came barely 60 seconds after the visitors set up the possibility of a nerve-jangling final half hour by bringing the score back to 3-2.
“For the first goal, Ayr had the ball but the defender was a bit short with his pass back, so I pressed their goalkeeper, he shelled it and that gave me a simple tap-in,” said Smith.
“The second goal was an easy finish for me, too, but I started the last two games and didn’t score in either of them, so I felt under a wee bit of pressure going into this one.
“Ever since I got my tonsils taken out I’ve started to get back to my usual self again. I’m feeling good and I’m really enjoying my football again.
“It’s up to the manager now. I just try to do my best and hopefully that’s good enough to keep my place in the team.”
Boss Jim Jefferies added: “It was so good to see Allan get a couple of goals today because of all the hard work he’s been putting in over the last few weeks.”
Jefferies was also delighted to claim maximum points following a testing recent period which yielded only one league win in their past five outings.
“We’ve played equally well recently but it wasn’t happening for us in front of goal the way it did today,” he said.
With talismanic frontman Faissal El-Bakhtaoui absent and summer signing Michael Moffat yet to catch fire this season, Smith has picked an ideal time to step up to the plate to support top scorer Gozie Ugwu.
With the exception of Rangers last season, Dunfermline have held their own against all-comers in League One yet often lacked the cutting edge to turn superiority into wins.
By a quirk of the fixture list, the Pars have played only two home games in the past six weeks, although both provided a torrent of goals as Saturday’s total matched the four scored against Stirling Albion last month.
“It was a very good team performance,” said Smith. “Hopefully this is us on our way now and we can start to go on a wee run over the next few weeks during the Christmas period.”