Dunipace just taking each game at a time, says boss Danny Smith

Dunipace manager Danny Smith (Photo: Alan Murray)

Dunipace boss Danny Smith says his side are taking it one game at a time as they look to mount a late promotion charge in the East of Scotland First Division.

The Denny side won 5-1 against 14th placed Lochore Welfare on Saturday, putting them to within five points of the top three promotion spots.

However, Smith is coy about his side’s chances of catching up with Newtongrange Star and Luncarty.

He said: "Our next game in the league is a trip to second-placed Glenrothes and that is the big one for us as if we could win that game then I would be daft to say that we are back in the mix again.

"But we are just taking it one game at a time and not getting ahead of ourselves. I think we would need to have a fair bit go our way to really be back in the promotion chase.”

On the win against Lochore at home, which saw Kai Wilson net a hat-trick with Liam McCroary and Keir Stevenson also getting on the scoresheet, Smith added: “We managed to get a couple of goals ahead but I wasn’t completely happy with our performance even although we were on top because I knew we would need more.

“Lochore are fighting for their lives down at the bottom and they did what I thought they would in the second half and gave it a real go. The third goal for us was pleasing because it gave us that big lead and it meant when they grabbed one back there was no panic as such and we went on to grab the fourth and fifth.

“If you had said to me before the game that we would win 5-1, then I would have bitten your hand off for that. Any win does for us at the moment and it keeps us ticking over.”

We’ll freshen things up this weekend and give some other players much needed game time. It is a balancing act because we want to do well in the cup competitions but our league season isn’t over yet and we can still push the teams at the top, but we need to keep on winning and hope for some favourable results elsewhere.