Dunfermline boss James McPake sees red over ref's decision

The referee was "completely wrong" not to send an Ayr player off just before half-time, according to Pars boss James McPake.

He didn't claim they would have gone onto win but they'd have had a better chance against 10 men as his side claimed a first point of the season, with Ewan Otoo smashing Athletic ahead before Dylan Watret levelled.

Pars players put a real shift in, hounding the league leaders all over the pitch, thumping into tackles and generally limiting their chances, and were left wondering what might have been if a big decision had gone their way late in the first half.

Pars manager James McPake said Ayr should have been down to 10 men for the whole of the second half. (Image: Craig Brown)

Ayr sub Nick McAllister was already on a yellow card when he hauled down Chris Kane just outside the box, with ref Ross Hardie seeming to reach for a card before he realised who it was and that he'd have to send the defender off.

McPake said he'd had words with the whistler and fumed: "I’m not one that comes out and ever criticises referees, it is very rare for me to say anything about them, but that’s a booking.

"It doesn’t matter now, could we have scored? I don’t know, somebody might have put it in the top corner, the likelihood is that we wouldn’t have scored from the free kick, that’s just the facts on how many free kicks go in.

“But to then then have a full half, 45 minutes plus whatever was left of that first half against 10 men? Football is hard enough when you are in the run that we are in. For me the referee has got it completely wrong."

Going by this photo, Ayr's Nick McAllister was perhaps lucky not to get booked for this challenge too. (Image: Craig Brown)

He added: “Any other player on the pitch, not on a booking, that’s a booking.

"He just decided not to do it because he knew the consequences would be a red card."

Dunfermline's boss gave home debuts to all three of his new signings, goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi and centre back Tommy Fogarty, on loan from Celtic and Birmingham respectively, and midfielder Josh Cooper.

Pars had lost their first three league games without scoring a goal - six defeats on the spin if you include the league cup campaign - to sit bottom of the table.

By contrast, Ayr had won all four of their Championship matches and were in first place.

The home team snapped into tackles, chased and harried their opponents to restrict their chances - and they did it well but struggled to create much themselves.

Dunfermline put a real shift in against the league leaders, with Chris Hamilton leading the charge. (Image: Craig Brown)

Lewis McCann whipped in a cross that Chris Kane just couldn't quite get a meaningful touch on but it took an injury to Ayr's experienced centre back Mikey Devlin to prise the door open.

He limped off and from the resulting free kick Kyle Benedictus dinked the ball into the box, Cooper's effort was blocked and the ball ran loose for Otoo who thumped the ball in off the bar from 25 yards for a stunning strike in the 15th minute.

It was the first goal the Pars had scored in more than four and a half hours of football, since Taylor Sutherland netted a consolation against Cove.

But they couldn't hold on. In the 22nd minute a Jamie Murphy cross was cleared to the edge of the box where Watret's shot deflected off Kane Ritchie-Hosler's leg and arrowed into the bottom corner.

McAllister, who replaced Devlin, should have walked just before half-time for the foul on Kane and although McCann's free kick up and over the wall hit the target, it lacked the venom to beat United goalie Harry Stone.

Chris Kane just failed to get a solid header on this dangerous free kick from Lewis McCann. (Image: Craig Brown)

McPake said: "He didn’t send him off, we got on with the game and we knuckled down to try and win that game as did they.

"It was two teams desperate to win the game but I’ll go back, it was certainly a second booking.”

The injured Benedictus stayed inside at the break, with 18-year-old Sam Young forming a very youthful centre back pairing with Fogarty, who's 20, but they coped well.

Kane just missed getting his head to McCann's free kick while a near post header from sub Andrew Tod tested Stone.

Ayr could have won it at the death but Oluwayemi made two big saves, tipping Ethan Walker's net-bound effort over the bar and rushing out to block George Oakley's angled drive.

McPake said: "We fought hard for each other today. The fans were with us which everybody could hear.

"I said to the players at the end, you can win games, you can draw, and there is the occasional game that you lose but you still get the fans showing their appreciation to you because they work really hard."

He went on: “It was a good advert for the Championship but it certainly showed us that there is not too much of a difference, if any, between where they are in the league and where we are.

"That has to be the level every single week and if we perform to that level and work as hard as that then we will have more good days than we have bad days at this football club.”