Dunfermline Athletic made it two cup wins out of two to start their season in great style when they saw off East Stirling 2-0 at Ochilview last Saturday to progress to the Second Round of the Scottish League Cup.
The East End Park side had defeated Cowdenbeath 3-1 the week before in the Ramsdens Cup and now their attention has turned to League 1 business with the Pars opening their campaign with another Fife derby this time against new look East Fife.
Whilst it is a short journey for everyone connected with the East End Park side it will be a sentimental journey for striker Ryan Wallace as he explained by saying: “Playing at East Fife is like going home for me. It is where I made my career in football and because I did so well there I got the chance at Dunfermline last summer. East Fife are a great club from a great community.”
The 23-year-old talked through the importance of the New Bayview club to him by saying: “I started off at Hearts and then had a short spell at Airdrie before moving to East Fife under John Robertson. I came on leaps and bounds there under him. I remain grateful for the chance that East Fife took and then the one Dunfermline took on me as well.”
Wallace was a regular goalscorer in black and gold and he picked up some nifty footwear as a result as he explained: “I won two pairs of IRN-BRU Ginger boots during my time there. I won a pair in April 2011 not long after joining them and then again March 2012. I picked up other awards as well from the club like the Players’ Player Award so I class it as a very successful time.”
“We never won any trophies or promotion but we had some great games and of course winning at Aberdeen on penalties in the Co-operative Insurance League Cup was a real highlight.”
Wallace’s form at East Fife led to a move across the Kingdom to the Pars last summer and Wallace said: “Coming to Dunfermline and putting up with the things that we have had to over the past year has been tough but I still consider it a successful move. I got myself back to playing with a full time club and that was thanks to my time at East Fife.”
“They gave me the platform to get back to full time. I always had the confidence that I could do it but they gave me the opportunity to play and show what I could do.”
Getting a regular game under Robertson was key to Wallace who said: “It is always difficult to break into a first team and keep your place when you are young. You may never get the opportunity or you get one but just drift in and out. At East Fife I got a starting role and whether it was through good luck or fate I kept my jersey and things just moved on from there.”
Hearts legend Robertson was key with Wallace saying: “John is probably the biggest reason that I got a chance and the biggest reason that I kicked my career back up the way. He was absolutely terrific with me and a great guy as well. The experience he had gained as a striker helped me a lot on and off the park.”
“John taught me how to play the game better on the pitch and how to conduct myself away from the pitch as well. The most important thing he taught me was about movement in and around the box as well as timing. He started a lot of things off for me that Gordon Durie carried on when he took over.”
Wallace is looking forward to getting Dunfermline’s League 1 challenge going on familiar ground for him as he said: “East Fife have changed a wee bit since I left but it will be nice to go back and see some old pals. I am not going for just a visit I am going there for the 3 points. Hopefully I will get a good reaction from the East Fife fans as I scored a good few goals for them when I was there.”
“If I don’t, well that is just the nature of football, as of course I am there to score goals for Dunfermline. Having played there I do know it is a tough place to get a win at but if we do that it would be a terrific start to our league campaign.”
After a difficult 12 months Wallace is hoping that his side can flourish in League 1 and put in a title challenge saying: “We have a good young squad and have a bit of confidence about us after our last couple of wins. Our win at East Stirling was in difficult conditions due to the wind and dried out artificial pitch but I thought we handled it well, however it was not pretty.”
“We do not normally play as stuffy as we did as we like to play at a really high tempo. But we had to play in a certain way to get through and there may well be times that we need to dig in like that again in League 1. Hopefully we can come out of the other side of those games with a positive result as well.”
Wallace added: “It could be a really good season for us as you cannot rule anything out in football. Rangers have splashed a bit of cash with their signings and will be favourites but we will look to make a real go of it. I know my way about the Second Division and I am sure that will help.”
“Mind you I may know East Fife well but I have never been to Stranraer. I will need to get a camel out to help me get there. “
Wallace got on to the score sheet last weekend when took over penalty kick duties from Ross Millen and netted from the spot to get his tally off and running with the striker saying: “We change the penalty taker when they don’t score which is something we started last season after Stephen Husband missed one.”
“I was delighted to take it and get my first goal of the season. If we get a penalty against East Fife I am still on the job to take it.”
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