The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Pars sweep Bairns aside to get play-off push back on track
Child’s play for Johnston’s men against Bairns
Manager Allan Johnston sported a beaming smile last night after Dunfermline opened 2018 by deservedly claiming the bragging rights in the latest instalment of their long-running rivalry with old foes Falkirk.
While yesterday’s victory at East End Park was marginally less convincing than the embarrassingly one-sided rout on the same ground last August, the Pars and their ecstatic supporters cared not a jot after re-establishing their play-off credentials in fourth place thanks to only their second win in nine games, the other coming against bottom of the table Brechin.
“That’s a great start to the new year, winning the game and putting on a really good performance for the fans to give them something to shout about,” said Johnston. “It was important for us to get the win today, and hopefully there will be many more to come.
“There were a lot of outstanding individual performances, although I thought everybody played well today. That’s the standard we’re looking for in the second half of the season. We showed we have a good group of players here, but we’re still looking to strengthen our squad in the transfer window.”
For ninth-placed Falkirk, yesterday’s defeat also brought the sickening realisation that Saturday’s victory over Queen of the South – Paul Hartley’s first as manager – may have been little more than a false dawn. After scoring three at the weekend, the goals dried up again at East End Park, although an outstanding display from Pars’ stand-in keeper Lee Robinson had plenty to do with that.
Robinson was deputising for the injured Sean Murdoch, and Johnston explained: “He’s not been playing for a while, but he has been training hard and he’s one of those guys who has no worries about stepping in. I’m sure that’ll do wonders for his confidence.”
Hartley said: “Their goalkeeper was the difference between the two teams. He made more saves today than our keeper did. We didn’t start the game well, but we decided to change our shape and we then took control of the game. The two goals we lost were poor goals, though.”
Nicky Clark’s 16th-minute opener laid a solid foundation for the home side, but Hartley’s tactical changes saw Falkirk dominate the closing stages of the first half. Man of the match Robinson saved brilliantly from Aaron Muirhead and Louis Longridge, while Andrew Nelson, signed on loan from Sunderland, and Craig Sibbald both failed to convert halfchances inside the Dunfermline penalty area.
Half time probably arrived at the wrong moment for the rampant visitors, and a rebooted home team regained control of the game when they doubled their lead early in the second period. Declan McManus applied the finishing touch from close range, but most of the credit surely belonged to Joe Cardle following a bewitching mazy run.
Hartley made attacking substitutions, bringing on Rory Loy and Alex Harris, but Robinson’s one-handed stop from Reghan Tumilty kept Dunfermline’s lead intact, and they nearly made it 3-0 when Cardle’s deflected shot rattled the post. Attendance: 7,140.
Dunfermline: Robinson, Williamson, Mvoto, Ashcroft, Talbot, Paton, Shiels, Wedderburn, Cardle (Higginbotham 84), McManus (Ryan 86), Clark. Substitutes not used – Smith, Aird, Gill, Martin. Booked – Ashcroft, Cardle, Ryan. Falkirk: Mutch, Muirhead, Grant (Harris 64), McGhee, Tumility, Taiwo (Loy 64), Sibbald, Welsh, Robson, Longridge, Nelson. Substitute not used – Thomson, Kidd, Blues, Craigen, Watson. Booked – Tumility, Nelson.
Referee: William Collum.