Penalty is timely tonic for Kallum
Higginbotham atones for misses
FOR a nervous Kallum Higginbotham, the time had finally come to atone for one of the lowest moments of his career. The Dunfermline midfielder had spent weeks waiting for the chance to make amends for the two penalties he squandered during the final ten minutes in a 1-1 home draw with Ayr United last month.
A dead-ball expert, the first failures from the spot of his career had cost the Pars two precious points and he had immediately vowed to make amends the next time he had the ball on the spot 12 yards out.
Showing confidence in shrugging off team-mate Nicky Clark to take the penalty kick against St Mirren, the 27-year-old overcame the butterflies in his stomach to slam the ball gloriously past Jamie Langfield.
Saints may have ultimately rescued a vital point but Dunfermline are now unbeaten in their last nine matches and are the Championship’s form team.
They sit just six points behind fourth-placed Falkirk, who occupy the final play-off slot, and Higginbotham fired out a warning across the Kincardine Bridge that the Pars are coming in pursuit of their great rivals.
‘I said all along if we got another penalty, I wanted to take it but I didn’t think I would get the chance,’ said Higginbotham.
‘I’ve been waiting too long but then finally we got one. My team-mate John Herron gave me the ball but Nicky Clark told me he wanted to take it. But I said I was having it and Nicky was great about it.
‘That just sums up the squad we have. We are all rooting for each other and I need to say a massive thanks to both of them.
‘Those two penalties against Ayr were the only two I’ve missed in my career and I’m not going to lie — I was nervous stepping up to take this one.
‘But I’m a confident player and I should be scoring from 12 yards out. It was just unfortunate that I missed two in two minutes, but that’s gone now. It’s in the past. It was good to score this one. It gave me a big confidence boost.
‘No disrespect to St Mirren but we should be beating the bottom team in the league at home if we want to be in the play-offs. But that’s nine unbeaten now, so we can’t be too down on ourselves.
‘For most of this season we have been looking down the table but the run we are on has given us great confidence.
‘It’s only six points between us and Falkirk and we still have to play them twice. If we play as well as we can, I still believe we will be in the play-offs.’
For such a struggling side, Saints, fielding on-loan debutants Craig Storie and Rory Loy, rallied impressively after going behind and levelled just after the break.
Stevie Mallan swung in a corner and Gary MacKenzie atoned for giving away Dunfermline’s penalty by crashing home a towering header.
Mainly inspired by Higginbotham, Dunfermline went in search of a winner. Their best chance came when Clark set up Michael Moffat two yards from goal but the ball took a freak bobble and he could not hit the target. Then Higginbotham’s late free-kick whistled fractionally wide of Langfield’s post.
This was a decent, spirited point at the home of the division’s form side a week after Saints boss Jack Ross had become embroiled in a row with a Buddies fan in Paisley after a miserable 3-0 reverse to Queen of the South.
But his side remain perilously placed, seven points adrift of Ayr United at the foot of the table.
‘It was a good point away from home after going a goal behind,’ said Saints goalscorer MacKenzie. ‘Having given the penalty away I wanted to redeem myself and it was good to chip in with another goal.’