BY ALAN TEMPLE – Capital City Press
Goal-hungry Dunfermline defender Ben Richards-Everton intends to let his football do the talking – after his mum was left baffled by BBC Alba’s Gaelic commentary.
The towering stopper scored his first-ever senior goal in the Pars’ 3-0 hammering of Stranraer a fortnight ago, with the long-awaited strike coming on his 24th birthday.
To cap a perfect day, his friends and family were watching the game live on television in the Midlands, lapping up every minute of another dominant display by the former Patrick Thistle man.
However, the coverage left the contingent south of the border confused.
Richards-Everton smiled: “It was my first senior goal so I was happy with that – it was on my birthday as well, which was nice.
“My mum was watching at home with a couple of her friends. She was watching it on Alba and I think it took her a while to realise it wasn’t in English!
“They say the players’ names normally so it can be a bit confusing!
“I was delighted and had a few nice messages afterwards. If I can contribute to the team with goals then I will.”
Richards-Everton hopes that proves to be the first of many for the Pars after admitting his lack of goals is something he is desperate to rectify this season.
He continued: “It is something I need to add to my game and hopefully I can get a couple more now. We work on it in training trying to get me into the right areas for set-pieces. It finally paid off.”
That strike against Stranraer helped Dunfermline cement their status as British football’s top scorers with 37.
Nevertheless, he is also part of one of an impressive defensive unit, with the Fifers racking up six clean sheets from their last seven matches – a record he is determined to continue in today’s derby clash against Cowdenbeath.
He added: “The boys are doing well defensively now – long may it continue.
“At the start of the season we were winning 5-1, 6-1 and 7-1 but we were obviously conceding the odd goal, which was still a bit frustrating.
“We have worked hard in training on a few defensive things and we have now tightened up which is why we are keeping more clean sheets. Hopefully, we can improve even more.”
