Dunfermline: Pars lose out to Queen's Park at Hampden

FRUSTRATED James McPake refused to use injuries as an excuse for this Friday fright night at Hampden and told his Athletic players "it's not good enough".

When the Pars boss emerged to speak after Queen's Park had picked up a first league win 16 attempts at his team's expense, he felt that their opponents "wanted that game more" and that defeat was deserved.

Ruari Paton's strike early in the second half, and a deflected shot from ex-Par, Dom Thomas, did the damage for the Spiders, despite Ben Summers pulling a goal back with five minutes left to set up a grandstand finish.

Summers' contribution throughout the 90 minutes - Athletic's fifth in a row without victory - was praised by his manager, who also revealed he, and others, were struggling with injury.

The extent of Pars' injury woes was summed up by their bench, which featured two goalkeepers, 20-year-old Miller Fenton, and four teenagers.

Three of those who started their previous game against Raith Rovers - Sam Fisher, Rhys Breen and Ewan Otoo - missed out at the national stadium, whilst another defender, Aaron Comrie, was forced off in the 19th minute.

Those issues were not used by McPake as a reason for what he described as a "bitterly disappointing" evening, who said: "To me, and certainly my coaching staff, it looked like Queen's Park wanted that game more than us.

"Now, we can sugarcoat it and speak about the injuries and the key players we're missing, but I don't buy that.

"Particularly from when Aaron goes off, we looked as if 'oh, this isn't going to be our night'. We felt sorry for ourselves and it's not good enough."

Aaron Comrie was forced off at Hampden. (Image: Craig Brown.)

The Spiders, who hadn't won a league game since August, merited the three points in Mount Florida against a Pars side who struggled to test Calum Ferrie in the home goal throughout.

Owen Moffat and Chris Hamilton both sent efforts wide for the visitors, but they were fortunate not to be a goal down at the interval when a Paton effort was deemed by the officials to be offside - but television replays showed it wasn't.

The former Queen of the South forward did get his goal 10 minutes into the second half, however, when he drilled a fine low shot beyond Deniz Mehmet from 18 yards, after Summers was dispossessed by Cameron Bruce in the build-up.

Ruari Paton gave the Spiders the lead at Hampden. (Image: Craig Brown.)

Dunfermline were making very little headway in an attacking sense - and saw Alex Jakubiak hobble off to be replaced by Taylor Sutherland - as their opponents continued to look the more dangerous.

READ MORE: Pars defeat at Hampden 'not good enough' says skipper

Thomas, who had had a deflected over shortly before, looked to make the game safe when an effort from the edge of the box, via the boot of Hamilton, who tried to block, looped high and into the net with 12 minutes to go.

The Spiders skipper didn't overly celebrate what was a crucial goal for his current team against his old club, who pulled one back with five minutes left.

Moffat did well to keep the ball on the left and find Summers, who took a touch before firing a fine shot in off the post, giving the Pars late hope.

They almost snatched an unbelievable point when Josh Edwards volleyed into the side netting, after a fine touch by Craig Wighton to set him up, but McPake had no complaints about the final outcome.

"You could sense it. Queen's wanted it more than us and we got what we deserved from the game," he said.

"That's the worst. It's the first time here. I'm sure everybody will back me up on that that's standing here - it's the first time I've come out and said that. Am I afraid to come out and say it? No.

James McPake, pictured with Ben Summers, wasn't happy with his team's performance. (Image: Craig Brown.)

"I'm quick to praise them, and I praised them before the game and through the week about just how together we had been, but when you bring a decent crowd down here, the fans don't care. They want to see 11 players on the pitch. The staff don't care, we want 11 players on the pitch and, if you go out and fight, run and do everything you can to get those three points and lose the game, we come in and say 'unlucky lads, well done'. It didn't happen tonight."

Hamilton added: "Not good enough. Not happy at all.

"I felt we let ourselves down tonight, let the fans down that travelled. We were just not at it.

Chris Hamilton felt the Pars let their supporters down during the defeat to Queen's Park. (Image: Craig Brown.)

"I felt like they wanted it slightly more than us, which is probably the worst thing you could say, but that's what it felt like. There was a flatness.

"You can talk about injuries, you can talk about being down to the bare bones, and a few boys playing that, maybe if we had a full-strength squad wouldn't have played, just due to wee niggles, but I don't think it's an excuse.

"We had enough out on the pitch to give a much better performance than what we did, so we're disappointed."