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Manager Paul Hartley and midfielder Blair Yule spoke to the media after we ended 2021 within a 4-2 cinch League One victory over East Fife at Balmoral Stadium.

Paul said: “It was a good result, although I don’t think we were at our best.

“We were a bit loose with our passing in parts of the game, but it’s about winning and getting the three points and we managed to do that.

“We scored some really good goals too, so I’m pleased with how the day worked out.”

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An unfortunate own goal from Harry Milne for East Fife’s opener saw our proud clean sheet run in League One ended on the 618 minute mark, which Paul admitted he isn’t happy about.

He said: “The goals we lost were disappointing.

“The players should still have a bit of pride in not conceding.

“As I said, we were a wee bit loose at times, we know we can do a lot better.”

Blair netted his first SPFL goal for the club to cap a performance that also saw him named man-of-the-match by sponsors Colin Lawson Transport.

Paul added: “Blair was outstanding, so it was nice to see him get that goal.

“He just goes about his business every week and does his job well.

“It was also good to see Robbie Leitch scoring for the first time since coming back from injury.

“We need everybody to be contributing, we can’t always rely on (Mitch) Megginson and (Rory) McAllister to get the goals we need every week.

“That’s why it was nice for (Leighton) McIntosh to get a goal also.

“Hopefully everyone can keep chipping in as we go through the season.”

Blair netted after having been hailed as the club’s ‘unsung hero’ by skipper Mitch in his column in UnCOVErd, the free on-line programme published for every home game.

How much Blair is appreciated by his team-mates was highlighted by the way they engulfed him after he scored.

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Blair said: “I enjoyed the celebrations, there was plenty going on in that huddle!

“It underlined just how good the bond is within our squad.

“It shows on the park too, we all work hard for each other, and it was obviously nice to get a goal.

“I’m not known for scoring, as you can see by my record, but it doesn’t bother me as long as we win.

“I was pleased with the goal, it was a good break on the counter-attack and Connor (Scully) laid the ball perfectly into my path.

“I just shut my eyes at that point and whacked the ball as hard as I could and thankfully it went in!

“Even more so because the latest three points helped keep us at the top of the table.

“We were a wee bit unlucky last season, when we fell just short of gaining promotion.

“The aim is to see if we can do better this time.

“We are in a good position right now, but we won’t be getting carried away with ourselves.

“It’s good that we have the experience of competing at the top of leagues for the last few years, including before we made the step up to the SPFL.

“That experience has also shown us that it’s dangerous to think any further ahead than the next game.

“If we want to still be at the top of the table at the end of the season, when it matters most, we accept we are going to keep working hard to churn our results, even if we aren’t playing at our best, which was the case against East Fife.

“It wasn’t a perfect performance because we conceded two goals, which was annoying.

“We had been on a great run defensively, but we lost scrappy goals, which is something we will no doubt look at before our next match.

“I accept that every run has to come to an end at some stage, I’m just glad it didn’t affect the result for us.

“We have another tough game up at Peterhead next Sunday and we will be hoping to defend a lot better in that one.

“It’s a tricky place for every team to go to and we know Peterhead will be right up for taking us on.”

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