Fans vent their fury after Pars plummet
DUNFERMLINE’S calamitous campaign lurched to a disastrous end as Simon Murray’s last-gasp winner sent them spiralling towards relegation to League One.
An outpouring of emotion met the full-time whistle as disbelieving players sank to their knees and supporters vented their anger at those deemed responsible for a season that began badly and climaxed in devastating fashion.
Manager John Hughes bore the brunt of much of the fury. Inheriting the mess of a winless team from Peter Grant in November, the former Hibernian and Inverness Caley Thistle manager ultimately failed to turn around things sufficiently to save the club from the clutches of League One.
Efe Ambrose’s red card 12 minutes into the second half turned the tide of this semi-final in Queen’s Park’s favour and Murray’s 89th-minute strike sent the League One hopefuls into the final to give them a shot at promotion against Airdrie.
By contrast, Hughes now has the ignominy of being relegated with both Dunfermline and rivals Raith Rovers, but is adamant he wants the opportunity to steer the club back to the Championship next year.
‘It’s not down to today, it has been right throughout the season and we all need to stand up and look at it,’ he said. ‘It is very raw and we’re all
hurting in there. I didn’t say too much to the players.
‘I feel for the fans, the club. We need to take our medicine, but it’s our job to try and get this club back where it belongs.
‘I’m sure over the next few days there will be a lot of banging heads together, but we have to be very clever in what we’re doing.
‘We have to sleep on it and see who wants to be with us in League One. Who wants to stay and try and get the club back up. We’ll have to let it sink in, see where we want to go and take it from there.’
Asked if he wants to head up next season’s promotion push, he added: ‘I definitely want the chance to take this club to where it wants to go. This club is a really good club with really passionate supporters, and we’ve let them down, that’s for sure. Not just today but this season. So we need to regroup and go again, and get them smiling again.’
The Dunfermline players looked laden down by the burden of what could befall the team in defeat as they kicked off nervously and survived an early scare when Luca Connell’s shot was repelled by goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.
However, the nerves eventually eased and they could easily have been out of sight by half-time. Nine times in a 15-minute spell they threatened the Queen’s Park goal, only to come away empty-handed.
It was to prove extremely costly when Ambrose tripped Murray at the edge of the box in the 58th minute. According to referee Craig Napier, and a decision Hughes admitted afterwards he could not argue with, it was a goal-scoring opportunity and the former Celtic defender was shown the red card.
Momentum suddenly swung Queen’s Park’s way and they sealed a dramatic victory a minute from time. Bob McHugh muscled his way to the byeline and his low cross was hammered in by Murray.
Even then, Kevin O’Hara should have equalised and Coll Donaldson hit the defensive wall with a freekick before the full-time whistle after six minutes of injury-time.
‘My family were in the home end, including my sons,’ said interim Queen’s Park boss John Potter, who was born in Dunfermline and went on to play, coach and manage the Pars. ‘It’s disappointing for the club but I was here before when they were in far worse state. They were in administration and didn’t think they were going to be there. I’ve no doubt they will be back up.’