Dunfermline's James McPake says they should have beaten Cove

PARS boss James McPake said there is a “lack of confidence” among his players after a third defeat in a row in the Premier Sports Cup.

Already out of the competition after losses to Forfar and Livingston, Athletic conceded second half goals to Mikey Doyle and Myles Gaffney as Cove Rangers won on their first visit to East End Park.

The match was effectively a friendly, as the League One side had no chance of progressing either, but other than a late Taylor Sutherland goal there were no positives for Athletic with Sam Fisher also limping off in the first half.

McPake said: “It is really disappointing in terms of the goals we lost, we didn’t create enough chances either, a really disappointing day.”

READ MORE: Three in a woe as Cove stun Pars with league cup win

He went on: “There is obviously a lack of confidence at the minute, that’s plain for everybody to see.

“That is my job and the coaching staff’s job on the training pitch to get the lads bubbly for Livingston next week.

Dunfermline captain Kyle Benedictus is up for the challenge against Cove. (Image: Craig Brown)

“It is the start of the league campaign. Today we made changes to the shape, changes in personnel to get players’ minutes up but we should still have enough - it’s Dunfermline Athletic - to go and beat Cove Rangers at home.

“Again no disrespect to them, when you look at the two teams on paper we should still have enough but the confidence is down.”

Dunfermline started brightly with Michael O’Halloran’s weaving run taking him all the way to the edge of the six yard box but he was crowded out and couldn’t get a shot away.

In general though, they didn’t pose many problems to the visitors, who forced Deniz Mehmet to race from his line to smother when Gaffney got in behind the Pars rearguard.

For Athletic, Kieran Ngwenya’s 25 yard drive whistled just over the bar, O’Halloran had a close range header that lacked the power to beat the goalie and Craig Wighton couldn’t find the net as they briefly threatened before half-time.

Pars striker Craig Wighton's route to goal is blocked. (Image: Craig Brown)

A quick free kick in the 50th minute allowed O’Halloran another go, his drive was blocked, and Wighton was denied after a short pass back gave him a sniff.

But having largely run out of ideas it wasn’t a huge shock when Cove, who were neat and tidy in possession and comfortable at the back, scored in the 58th minute.

Declan Glass whipped in a free kick, Mehmet got fists to the ball but it didn’t travel far enough and Doyle was able to find the bottom corner.

Pars huffed and puffed, the boss brought on Sutherland, Lewis McCann, Ewan Otoo and Andrew Tod to try and change the game.

There was more purpose and energy, McCann and Sutherland both had efforts cleared off the line by Cove defender Finlay Murray while Tod had a header saved, but it was Rangers who scored next.

It's the League One side who were celebrating after a 2-1 win on Saturday. (Image: Craig Brown)

Glass found Gaffney in space and he lifted the ball beyond Mehmet in the 84th minute.

That was the cue for many Pars fans – there was only 1,010 at the match, including 33 away supporters – to leave and they missed Sutherland’s fine turn and finish in the 88th minute.

McPake admitted it may have been a “bad call to leave him on the bench” but the young striker’s cameo was the only bright spot.

The boss went on: “We used this game to change the shape, as much as we could change to get their minutes topped up for the league starting next week.

Young striker Taylor Sutherland came on as sub and bagged a late consolation goal for Athletic. (Image: Craig Brown)

"We knew that there was no way of getting out of this group which is really disappointing, particularly with the two home defeats.

“We know the squad is lacking, I know that more than anyone but I have got to take that along with my coaching staff that we still have better players and players that should be winning the two home games in particular.

“So that’s the disappointing thing, certain ones go on and you ask for a performance and you don’t get it.

"That’s right across and as I say with that squad we should have enough to beat Forfar and Cove particularly at home.

“Those games can be tricky away from home but you have to deal with them when you are at home.”

McPake was unhappy with the goals they lost and said: “We will work this week to get that confidence back to go to Livingston.

“They had a disappointing result today, so it’s two teams that are really disappointed not to get out this group. Credit to Spartans, in the end they are the ones who qualify, but we now have a full week to prepare for Livingston.”