The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Dunsmore goal sets Fifers on their way
Derby joy for Bayview men while Rovers boss McGlynn questions his side’s ‘mentality’
Aaron Dunsmore was delighted to bag another derby goal as East Fife ended Raith Rovers’ 22-month unbeaten record at Stark’s Park.
The Kirkcaldy side had not tasted a home defeat in a league match in 33 outings, since a 1-0 loss to Morton back in February 2017.
Having scored the winner at Bayview in the previous meeting last month, Dunsmore struck the opener in the 11th minute before Rory Currie doubled the visitors’ lead on the stroke of half-time.
Rovers pulled one back late in the second half through substitute Lewis Vaughan but the Methil men held on for a second successive derby victory.
“I’m really happy to get on the scoresheet and help the team towards the victory,” Dunsmore said.
“I thought we played really well in the first half, and going 2-0 up we knew we’d have to dig deep.
“They brought on a couple of good players and they are obviously full-time so we knew the pressure was going to come, but we managed to get over the line.
“The supporters come out in numbers every week, so that win is for them.”
East Fife boss Darren Young revealed that some of his players had not managed to train in the week leading up to the game with preparations disrupted by Christmas.
Dunsmore added: “It was Christmas on Tuesday so we weren’t in, and there was a few boys who were struggling to get in for Thursday as well.
“Raith are full-time so they’ve trained through the week. They’ve had better preparation than us, but we wanted it more and you could see that on the pitch.”
East Fife took the lead on 11 minutes when Mark Docherty picked out Dunsmore’s late run into the Raith box and he smashed an unstoppable effort into the net via the underside of the bar.
Raith claimed a penalty when Daniel Armstrong’s shot was blocked on the line but referee Gavin Ross turned them down.
Liam Buchanan also had the ball in the net for the home side but was flagged offside.
However, East Fife were on the front foot and deservedly doubled their lead in the 43rd minute when Currie capitalised on a slip from Iain Davidson to race clear and slot beyond Robbie Thomson.
Raith improved after the break but were not able to make pressure count until the 83rd minute when Vaughan found space in the box to steer an effort beyond Brett Long.
But Young’s men deserved three points.
“I think we were the better team,” said the East Fife boss.
“We’ve had guys on the park who haven’t even trained this week, so to go out and put on a performance like that is outstanding.”
Rovers boss John McGlynn blasted his players for failing to build on last week’s win over league leaders Arbroath, with the gap now extended again to 11 points.
“We’re inconsistent,” he said. “Last week the mentality was good, but today was a derby game and our mentality was not what it should be.
“Every game we’ve lost you can put it down to mentality.” held on for
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