Dunipace score four at home again to move into second spot

Dunipace defeated Oakley United 4-2 on Saturday (Photo: Alan Murray)

The Westfield club moved into second spot in the East of Scotland first division after a 4-2 win over Oakley United last weekend, with that result seeing them able to move top if they pick up the three points from Central Park.

Ahead of that match, Smith said: “Whitburn seem to be the form team. It is a good opportunity for us to beat one of the teams around us in the table, and that is what you have to do to stay up there. We beat them towards the end of last season.

“I think, with the squad we have, we can beat anyone in this league on our day. But we’ll give Whitburn the respect they deserve. We’re quietly confident of getting a result.

Dunipace boss Danny Smith on the touchline (Photo: Alan Murray)

“What I know for certain is that Whitburn will be confident too. This is the type of game we cry out for at Dunipace. Matches with a lot at stake because we are up the top end of the table.”

Goals from Kyle Turnbull, Kieran Anderson, Aidan Kemp, and Liam McCroary sealed a third successive home league victory for the Pace last Saturday, and in those three matches, Smith’s side have scored four goals, taking their goal tally to 35 after just 11 outings.

Dunipace also have the best defensive record in the division, having only conceded 11 goals.

"We’ve only had five home games in the league but we have managed to score 25 goals, that is excellent at any level,” Smith added. “There is a lot to be happy about.

"We probably made it a wee bit harder for ourselves (last Saturday) than it needed to be. But we got the three points and that is all that matters.

"Oakley came with a game plan and they stuck to it pretty well so we need to respect that. It was a tough one to come through.

"We’re doing really well at the moment. I’m not much of a stats person but we have scored a lot of goals and we haven’t conceded many either. When you look at our for and against, it suggests that we should win most games and that is what has happened so far.

"But I still feel we could go up a level, we can play better and I can see areas for improvement.”