Benched Pars striker bounces back with his first senior hat-trick

Hat- trick hero Ke vin O’Hara admitted he was disappointed to be left out of Stevie Crawford’s starting line- up, after making a major impact off the bench against his former club.

O’Hara scored with his first touch at the Indodrill Stadium and revealed he was keen to show the coaching staff why he should be on the pitch.

He said: “When the gaffer named the team yesterday I was a little bit disappointed to be on the bench, but it’s a team game and we’ve got a good squad.

“When I came on I was hungry to show why I shouldn’t be on the bench and it’s just unfortunate it was against my former club because I can’t thank them enough.

“However, Im ’ delighted to get my first senior hat-trick.”

It was a ruthless performance from the Pars, who scored after just six minutes when Ryan Dow evaded the offside trap to round Reece Wilson and tuck home.

The home side saw plenty of the ball in the first half and were rewarded with an equaliser just before halftime. Fu l l - b a c k Jo n Robertson whipped in a delightful ball for Kevin Cawley, who nipped in front of Paul Watson to send a header looping over Owain Fon Williams and into the net.

Summer signing O’Hara replaced Dow on 66 minutes and the 22-year-old pounced within 60 seconds, latching on to a defensive mistake from Robertson inside the penalty area and cushioning a lovely lob over the home goalkeeper.

Dunfermline added a third nine minutes later, O’Hara finding the far corner with a neat finish after clever build-up play by strike partner Declan McManus.

The former Alloa forward could have had his hat-trick moments later after finding space on the right and firing a shot off the post.

H o w e v e r, he did e ventually claim the match ball when substitute Kyle Turner was bundled over by Edin Lynch and O’Hara duly converted the spot-kick award.

Ma n a g e r C r awf o r d said: “I’m pleased for Kevin. His attitude is tremendous, he’s hungry and he’s come here to prove a point.”