By Michael Wood
Dunfermline Athletic 2-0 Ayr United
The first game of meteorological spring hoped to give the Pars fresh optimism from a chilling winter, a season in which only bottom of the table Arbroath picked up fewer points within.
Ayr was also thankful for a change as the beginning of Scott Brown’s reign with the Honest Men got them moving in the right direction with four wins and single-goal losses against the two sides streaking ahead of the pack at the top of the table. Form that would have seen them sit second in the table to Greenock Morton on goal difference if those were the only games that counted.
Steven Whittaker, the Ayr assistant, was returning to the club where he was on Peter Grant and subsequently, John Hughes’ coaching staff after finishing his playing career at East End Park in the summer of 2021.
After following his former Hibernian teammate down to Fleetwood Town, they joined forces again in January 2024 after the dismissal of another ex-Dunfermline defender, Lee Bullen.
As for Dunfermline, they were without defeat in their last three matches, which gave an indication just as the birds were chirping and the buds were forming on the trees that better times were just around the corner.
For the hosts: Chris Kane, who missed the trip to Inverness on Tuesday with illness, returned to the starting XI, with his replacement on the night, Alex Jakubiak, sat back on the bench; Owen Moffat swapped with Ben Summers.
Ayr made one change with Anton Dowds, unavailable last time out against Partick Thistle in place of Kurt Willoughby.
It took a while for the goals to come but DA eventually got their noses in front when Hamilton headed in the opener three minutes from half-time, aided by Paul Allan’s cross from a corner on the right. The captain lurking on the left side of the box manages to get the run on teenage Fraser Bryden and meet the out-swinging ball, bouncing it into the ground and past Josh Clarke in between the sticks.
One quickly became two when Ayr had a throw-in on the right midway in their half in the first minute of stoppage time: Frankie Musonda inbounded it to Sean McGinty, whose poor touch was punished by the rampaging Kane, who was initially blocking off a throwing route to Ben Dempsey and was composed in netted his first DA goal.
Dunfermline was comfortable in the second half when keeping Ayr at bay and picking up their third clean sheet in seven outings. The win lifted DA into fifth, ahead of Ayr on goal difference and with Tuesday’s opponents’ Airdrieonians on goals scored.
Dunfermline Athletic 0-2 Airdrieonians
This game was the second attempt to get this on after the postponed effort in mid-January due to a flooded East End Park, which was still unplayable the following Saturday against Queen’s Park.
It felt this was as good an opportunity as any to capitalise on the team’s pleasing fortunes as James McPake’s record against Rhys McCabe had been exceptional, tallying up three wins and three draws in six meetings.
Victory against Airdrie has not been taken for granted in the last dozen years as when conjoined between 2012 and 2016, the Lanarkshire outfit held the ‘bogey team’ tag, with Dunfermline winning just five and drawing three of 16 outings.
The first meeting between the pair this season was the opening day, in which the Pars held on with 10 men to win two-one. The second encounter brought the same scoreline but was more comfortable and impressive, considering Airdrieonians’ strong home form on the artificial turf.
And McPake, happy with the win at the weekend win, made the one unenforced change with Summers preferred over Moffat as Kane dropped out for Jakubiak; Kane Ritchie-Hosler was a welcome addition to the bench after 98 days on the sideline.
McCabe, an ex-Par himself, fielded another three along with him including: Callum Fordyce, Gabby McGill and Nikolay Todorov.
And it was the Bulgarian who netted the opener with a trademark header at the back post that was cheered at East End Park last season but met with derision this time around, and just like that game in August, Airdrie led in the opening quarter of the match.
Airdrie killed the game after a superb strike from McGill, who spun on the ball and leathered it into the top corner from the edge of the 18-yard-box.
At the same time Greenock Morton was hosting Dundee United but were beaten one-nil, meaning at the close of play Dunfermline still sat five points off fourth, three behind Airdrie in fifth, who have a game in hand against Arbroath in April.
Raith Rovers 2-0 Dunfermline Athletic
The sixth and, perhaps, last Fife derby of the season took Dunfermline back to where the season started: Stark’s Park.
DA’s best result against Raith came back in that League Cup game in August when taking the bonus point on penalties after a one-all draw. Since then, four defeats have followed, all by one goal in the league and that embarrassing three-nil scudding in the Scottish Cup when the Kirkcaldy outfit had more cause to bemoan their respective injury list that was longer than Dunfermline’s.
McPake elected to recall captain Kyle Benedictus to the starting line-up after 63 days without a game, having sat on the bench in the previous two matches. He was not the only long-term absentee to come back into the XI as Ritchie-Hosler was also following a cameo against Airdrie on Tuesday; Paul Allan and Lewis McCann made way for the duo.
The Rovers team, which showed its arse against on BBC Scotland when letting a two-goal lead against bottom-of-the-table Arbroath turn into a defeat, was refreshed as Scott Brown came in for the injured Keith Watson and two former Pars – Kyle Turner and Shaun Byrne – were dropped to the bench to make way for Sam Stanton and Dylan Easton.
Stanton scored the winner for the third time in the league between these pair after a Lewis Vaughan free-kick, palmed by Mehmet, was met by the midfielder who reacted quicker than the defense to put Rovers ahead in the 38th minute.
This was after a strong start by the visitors, as had been the case in their last two visits to Kirkcaldy, but came away with nothing once again when Aidan Connolly and Dylan Easton were sharper than the whole Dunfermline team when Connolly took a quick free-kick, and Easton thumped home past a flinching Welch-Hayes in the latter part of the game.
If the defeat midweek was a low ebb, this was rock bottom as the club slunk to seventh with a televised game against the side residing at the top of the table to come.
Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 Dundee United
Dundee United had only conceded eight league goals on their travels around the country this season but had been prone to dropping the odd bollock: Lowland League champions Spartans in the League Cup and League One leaders Falkirk in the Challenge Cup made up two of their three away defeats with the other coming against Raith Rovers in February.
McPake, not disheartened by his side’s performance on Saturday, went with an unchanged XI, and Sam Fisher made it back into the squad for the first time in 10 games.
Jim Goodwin made two swaps in his starting line up, with Alex Grieve and Jordan Tilson taking the places of Kai Fotheringham and Glenn Middleton, forfeiting width in attack for firepower.
Ritchie-Hosler’s first assist of the season for Todd’s fourth goal, in his 100th Pars appearance, meant only Wighton has scored more in the league for the club this campaign. Like most passages of play this evening, Jakubiak was the instigator as he overpowered the Dundee United backline and sent the ball across to Ritchie-Hosler, who laid it off for Todd.
It was only the second time under McPake that Dunfermline scored in the opening 15 minutes of a league game at home and the Pars were well worth their lead and extending it before the half when, in a day of firsts, Ritchie-Hosler scored eight minutes before half-time when capitalising on a desperate clearance from Kevin Holt to nick it away from a charging Todd to dispatch from outside the box after teeing himself up with a couple of touches.
The third came in the 53rd minute when Ritchie-Hosler won the ball from a lead-footed Scott McMann in his half and strode forward into the final third before exchanging passes with Jakubiak, who drew both recovering defenders towards him and rolled it back, leaving the winger to caress the ball past Jack Walton in goals.
Middleton played his part in an 80th minute consolation for the visitors as his cut back into the box was first deflected by Fisher, then Benedictus past an outstretched Mehmet and a recovering Otoo. But it was little too late for the visitors that remained top of the table, thanks to Raith Rovers’ failure to capitalise at Hampden Park the day after.
That draw in Glasgow was also helpful to Dunfermline, who moved back into sixth ahead of Queen’s Park and sat four points from the last promotion play-off spot held by Airdrie.
Greenock Morton 0-1 Dunfermline Athletic
The reverse was the game in which it all went wrong for Dunfermline’s season in early February. Instead of the gap between the pair being reduced to two points, it was widened to eight and appeared as a yawning chasm that separated the sides. The five-nil loss meant the Pars goal difference dipped into the negative for the first time, and they sat in eighth, one point above a potential relegation spot.
However, in the intervening period, DA has made the rift manageable to cross as a win would have seen them surpass the ‘Ton in the table, albeit Dougie Imrie’s side has a game in hand: away to Ayr United.
Darragh O’Connor, who scored a brace at East End Park, was relegated to the bench along with Grant Gillespie and winger Lewis McGrattan brought into attack with the human battering ram George Oakley leading the line.
As for Dunfermline, they made one enforced change with Kane back fit and starting for Summers, who came off against Dundee United with back spasms. It was the first time all season that McPake could call upon a squad of 20 comprised of first-teamers, vital in their attempts to squeak into a Premiership play-off spot.
A heavy downpour prior to kick-off made for a slick and heavy surface, as has been the case for many of the surfaces across the country this year.
Ritchie-Hosler provided the assist, this time for Miles Welch-Hayes, who headed home his debut goal for the club and first in Scotland when Kane took a short corner for the winger to cross into the box.
Deniz Mehmet was called into action when saving a penalty from ex-Par Robbie Muirhead. It was the former Turkish youth international saving his third spot-kick in a row, saving the club three vital points with his block here and the one up in Inverness, and happily for him banking another two clean sheets.
Dunfermline moved above Morton into the table half of the table, which is still unsettled with the games in hand for the Renfrewshire outfit and Airdrieonians.
Arbroath 2-3 Dunfermline Athletic
McPake made one change from his starting eleven at Cappielow the previous week – left out Welch-Hayes as a precaution, so in came Fisher with a retention of the shape that had proven effective in recent weeks.
Jim McIntyre, who has struggled at Arbroath to lift the club out of the bottom spot, decided to make three changes with Gordon Walker, Thomas O’Brien and Leighton McIntosh starting in place of the benched Innes Murray, Connor Teale and Jay Bird, infamously sent off in the last meeting between the sides for getting in a rammy with teammate Jermaine Hylton.
Dunfermline was treated to sunshine and just a brisk breeze, as perfect as conditions could get at Gayfield Park and played into the glorious sunshine in the opening 45 minutes.
Mehmet made an important intervention early on when turning a McIntosh strike around the post, but after that, it was all one-way traffic in favour of the visitors.
Shortly after the midway point of the half, Edward’s long throw was only partially cleared by the Red Lichties’ defence, and Otoo struck a low, hard shot past the outstretched Derek Gaston.
Hamilton’s day only lasted five minutes after going off with concussion after a collision with Adam Mackinnon; Allan was his replacement, and he netted the second from a free-kick, the Pars’ second directly from a dead ball this season with the first back in September at Hampden when Lewis McCann struck Dunfermline further in the lead.
A third followed shortly before half-time when Kane turned home from close range after getting on the end of Fagan-Walcott’s flick-on that struck the bar from another Allan free-kick.
Arbroath gave themselves a glimmer of hope of a comeback just as they managed earlier in the month against Raith Rovers when trailing by two, going on to win by three, however, history was not going to repeat itself even when Scott Stewart scored nine minutes after the restart.
The Angus outfit gave themselves a glimmer of hope of a comeback, just as they managed earlier in the month against Raith Rovers when trailing by two, going on to win by three, however, history was not going to repeat itself even when Scott Stewart scored nine minutes after the restart and followed it up on the 63rd minute when netting from another corner.
The win moved Dunfermline into fourth, albeit Airdrieonians have the opportunity to move back into the Premiership Play-Off berth on Tuesday when they visit Gayfield.
Summary
It was a strong start beating an Ayr side comfortably, however, those two defeats in the space of four days knocked the stuffing out of the side and made their pursuit of a Premiership play-off spot hanging by a thread.
But then the victory against Dundee United was the best that Dunfermline has played in the league this season, highlighting how the decimation of the first-team through injury caused havoc to the rhythm of the side that had a clear identity throughout the League One title win.
The penalty save at Cappielow gave the supporters belief that a lot of the bad fortune that had been plaguing the club this season had dissipated, with the first-half shellacking dished out on Arbroath just what Dunfermline required to get the goal difference heading in the right direction but was disappointing for them to give a couple back in the second.
Andrew Tod, Sam Young and Taylor Sutherland all signing two-year deals was a bonus. And it was heartening to see Young (Gala Fairydean Rovers), Michael Beagley (Hill of Beath), Ewan McLeod and Jake Sutherland (Crossgates Primrose) get out and play first-team football in the Lowland and East of Scotland League, respectively.
What next
The last five games of the season as Dunfermline host Partick Thistle, head across to Airdrie before back-to-back home games against Queen’s Park and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, ending the regular season with a trip to Ayr.
(Photo credit: Craig Brown – DAFC.co.uk)
That's Never 10 Yards 