No Magic touch yet for Pars

Allan Johnston insists his sloppy Pars need to sharpen up at both ends of the pitch after a heavy defeat to Tranmere.

The Dunfermline boss was pleased with his side’s first-half display but they failed to break the deadlock.

And former Caley Thistle forward Larnell Cole hit them with a sucker punch five minutes before the break when he fired League Two Rovers ahead.

The English side then ran riot after the break as further strikes from Amadou Soukouna, Danny Walker-Rice and Nick Long saw them ease to victory.

Frustrated Johnston said: “In the first half we played quite well and created opportunities.

“But when you do that you have to take your chances.

“Then they went up the park and scored which was frustrating.

“In the second half we got punished. We have to learn because you can’t keep losing cheap goals.

“I’m disappointed. There was a lot of positive stuff in the first half but also a lot to improve on.”

Tranmere may be in the fourth tier down south but Johnston admits Dunfermline still lag behind them. And that gap is evident on and off the pitch after yesterday’s defeat.

Magic said: “Tranmere have a £ 3.5million training ground and they’re in League Two. It shows you the difference.

“We are miles away from that. It shows how far we have to go.”

But the East End Park boss was pleased with the performance of youngster Lewis McCann.

The 17-year- old striker was a threat to the Tranmere defence and Johnston has been impressed with him in pre-season.

He said: “Lewis has done brilliantly, he has been one of our main threats. For such a young lad he has done very well.”

McCann played a part in a strong Pars start as they forced a series of corners and posed the English side problems.

But Tranmere, who have just won promotion f rom the Vanarama League, took the lead when Cole chipped the keeper.

Soukona’s 20-yarder made it 2-0 after the break and Walker-Rice hit the third in 70 minutes with a fine curling effort.

Long headed the fourth at the death and Rovers manager Micky Mellon said: “It’s really early but it gives us a platform to work on.”