Pars fight back to ruin McGlynn’s return

JOHN McGLYNN led his Raith Rovers side for the first time this season — and the players will be glad he was in the stand and not the dugout after they let a two-goal lead slip in a see-saw Fife derby.

McGlynn underwent gall bladder surgery in October and has endured a lengthy recuperation that kept him away from Rovers’ games.

He would have been more than satisfied with what he saw as goals either side of half-time from Manny Duku and Frankie Musonda earned Rovers a two-goal advantage.

But strikes just a minute apart from Fraser Murray and Declan McManus stretched Dunfermline’s unbeaten run to 11 games, even though they lost top spot to Hearts.

‘John was here and it was good to see him back,’ said Raith assistant Paul Smith. ‘He said he was a wee bit more chilled out watching the game from the stand because he wasn’t too emotionally involved in it.

‘It does feel a wee bit like a defeat in the end. We got ourselves in a great position. But we knew, even at 2-0, it wouldn’t be over.

‘We switched off for five minutes and lost two goals.’

Raith took the lead when Dan Armstrong’s free-kick on 27 minutes picked out Duku and the striker crashed in the rebound after Owain Fon Williams saved his initial header.

Musonda then clipped the top of the crossbar with a header, but the defender doubled Rovers’ advantage in the 64th minute, knocking in from a tight angle from a corner.

However, Dunfermline showed character in spades to rescue a point.

First, substitute Murray drilled a right-foot shot into the far corner of the net after cutting inside. Then, McManus flashed in a superb volley from Ryan Dow’s cross.

‘I think the players showed what it meant to play for Dunfermline,’ said manager Stevie Crawford. ‘We deserve credit for that fighting spirit. If you’re going to take something from a derby that’s the qualities you need to show.’