The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Murray the hero as Pars see off Bairns
Arare double from Euan Murray h e l p e d Dun f e rm l in e maintain their perfect start to the Betfred Cup with a deserved win against rivals Falkirk last night.
The Pars skipper opened the scoring on 57 minutes, sending a powerful header low past Robbie Mutch following a brilliant whipped cross from Dom Thomas.
Fo r m e r Kilmarnock winger Thomas was the star of the show and he provided another assist just eight minutes later when his outswinging corner was nodded home by Murray at the back post as Ben Hall off the line.
Although Falkirk failed to respond to falling behind, they will feel ag grie ved that referee Grant Ir vine failed to award them a stonewall penalty when, with the scores still level, Declan McManus handled the ball on the stroke of half-time.
Ho w e v e r, Pa r s head coach Stevie Crawford was delighted with his side’s resilience, saying: “The most pleasing thing was the 15 minutes Falkirk were on top because we found a way not to concede.
“That ’s important because that gives you a chance to win games and we tweaked it at half-time.
“One of the attractions of bringing Dom to the club failed to clear was his delivery and we were a threat all night from set-plays.”
Dunfermline eased to a win in their opening game against Dumbarton and they almost followed-up by snatching the lead after just two minutes.
Both sides deployed two strikers and there was an open feel about the opening stages.
The dangerous McManus moved between these clubs in the summer after netting 23 goals for Falkirk last season and his flicked header forced Mutch into a low stop on 15 minutes.
The visitors’ first chance fell on 25 minutes when Aidan Keena sprung the offside trap but he blazed wildly over the bar.
Keena should have Fa l k i r k ahead on put 31 minutes when he got on the end of former Hearts team -mate Ca l lumn Morrison’s pinpoint cross but his diving header from six yards out was straight at Owain Fon Williams.
McManus’ pace was a problem for the Bairns and after he was fouled on the edge of the box by Mark Durnan, Thomas stung the palms of Mutch.
Fr o m the resulting corner Paul Watson fired straight into the arms of the keeper.
Fa l k i r k posed few problems in the closing stages and C r awf o r d , lavishing more praise on Thomas, added: “The fantastic thing about Dom is that he wanted to come and play for Dunfermline and he’s a great character around the place.”