Arbroath v Dunfermline: Craig Wighton earns Pars a point

CRAIG WIGHTON was Dunfermline's hero as he stepped off the bench to rescue a point with a dramatic late equaliser against 10-man Arbroath.

The Pars number nine, twice a former Lichties loanee, added to the double he bagged against them at KDM Group East End Park last month in stoppage time to earn a point for James McPake's side.

They looked to have been heading for a second successive defeat when Jay Bird fired Arbroath, under the charge of ex-Athletic gaffer, Jim McIntyre, ahead on the stroke of half-time.

However, with his side in command and the visitors struggling to break through - although Owen Moffat did hit the upright - he blotted his copybook in the 74th minute.

Already on a yellow card for a challenge on Chris Hamilton in the first half, which saw the Dunfermline skipper forced off with what McPake confirmed afterwards was a cheekbone injury that has required a trip to hospital, he was embroiled in a bizarre altercation with team-mate, Jermaine Hylton.

After a melee, referee Lloyd Wilson, flashed a second yellow card at the home goalscorer, and his team-mates paid the price as they couldn't hold on.

Post-match McPake, who also lost forward, Lewis McCann, to a hamstring injury in the first half, said: ""It looked like we could've played forever and not scored if I'm honest. That was the way it was looking.

"I think we kept going, aided by the fact that they went down to 10 men.

"I think, for a while, that was the most exciting thing. I don't mean that in that way, but it was not so much a boring game, but there wasn't much going in it, certainly from a Dunfermline point of view.

"We just looked flat, if I'm honest. I don't know if the changes effected that, but that shouldn't.

"Everybody keeps saying, and we spoke about it through the week, Arbroath in December and the weather - it was a great day for football.

"The pitch is heavy but our pitch is heavy, every grass pitch you play on is heavy, so no excuses in terms of the flatness.

"We didn't deserve to win that game, we know that. We'd have loved to have gone on and won it, but credit to them. They kept going in the end."

The visitors made three changes to the team that lost to Partick Thistle last weekend.

Rhys Breen, making his first appearance since October after injury, was brought into the starting line-up, alongside Aaron Comrie and Moffat.

Sam Fisher, who sustained a knock last weekend, missed out completely, while Joe Chalmers and Alex Jakubiak took seats on the bench.

The visitors got the action underway, in front of a healthy travelling support, but it was McIntyre's Lichties who were mostly on the front foot in the first half.

Boosted by their first win of his tenure at Inverness Caledonian Thistle last weekend, the impressive Leighton McIntosh had the contest's first effort, which was blocked by the Pars rearguard, before testing Deniz Mehmet at his near post after McCann had a goal chalked off for offside.

An open game then provided a blow midway through the opening period when Hamilton, in going for a header, was caught by the foot of Bird, who was booked.

After a stoppage in play, he was taken off and replaced by Joe Chalmers who, along with Matty Todd, had an effort from range comfortably held by Lichties keeper, Derek Gaston.

With seven minutes to go until the break, another injury setback befell the visitors when McCann, chasing a long clearance from Mehmet, pulled up and had to be substitued for Jakubiak.

Dunfermline, though, were struggling to create clear openings and, indeed, Arbroath almost had the opener when a stramash inside the box from Craig Slater's cross saw Jermaine Hylton unable to force the ball home thanks to a combination of Mehmet and his defence.

However, on the stroke of half-time, McIntyre's team did hit the front when Bird got the better of Ewan Otoo in racing on to Thomas O'Brien's pass down the left.

He then ran to the edge of the box before dispatching a fine finish into the bottom corner beyond the helpless Pars keeper.

Dunfermline tried to respond after the break, with Jakubiak shooting wide with a difficult chance, but Hylton and Bird both had efforts for Arbroath before the visitors' best moment of the game to that point.

Michael O'Halloran played the ball infield to Moffat, who drove to the edge of the box before finding his team-mate on the right, but he seemed to be caught in two minds to shoot or cross, with his driven ball flashing wide of the far post.

O'Halloran and Paul Allan were then subbed for Ben Summers and Wighton, but Bird came close again for the hosts before Wighton's connection to a Jakubiak centre, which was spilled by home keeper, Derek Gaston, hit Todd's head on its way over.

Then, in the 66th minute, Dunfermline should have levelled.

Comrie began the move, playing a fine one-two with Jakubiak, before driving to the edge of the box.

He elected not to shoot, instead finding Wighton, who laid it on for Moffat, whose side-footer hit the post, before Comrie sliced the follow-up wide.

Then, after going close with another quickfire couple of chances, Bird saw red when he appeared to have a disagreement with Hylton, after a shot was deflected wide for a Lichties corner.

Amidst the melee, which Breen tried to separate, both players were booked, with Bird receiving a second, and an early bath, with McIntyre branding their behaviour as "unprofessional" post-match.

From there, it was up to Dunfermline to try and break their opponents down, and Wighton curling one over from inside the box was as close as they came - until the final minute.

From a corner won by Todd, Chalmers put in a fantastic ball which Wighton met to head home and spark scenes of celebration amongst the travelling support.

They could even have been cheering an unlikely winner, had the goalscorer made better contact from a low Summers cross, but they had to settle for a share of the spoils.