Dunfermline's David Wotherspoon had a 'point to prove'

The 34-year-old midfielder was one of the heroes of the Fife derby win with an assist and his first goal for Dunfermline as they beat Rovers in the league for the first time in two years.

Wotherspoon had been dropped from the starting line-up for the previous two matches against Ayr and East Fife while boss James McPake drummed into his players the need to end their awful run in the fixture.

David Wotherspoon had a point to prove against Raith after being dropped for the previous two matches. (Image: Craig Brown) That ended on Friday night and he admitted: “I did feel I had a wee bit of a point to prove after being out of the team. I was champing at the bit to get back in.

“I was speaking to the gaffer throughout the week. I just want to be part of the team and help the boys as much as I can.

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“He’s brought me in and says he wants to use my experience to help what is a young squad. I’ll look to do that, even if I’m not on the pitch.

“But I was desperate to get back on the pitch and hopefully I’ve done enough to stay in the team.

“I felt I performed well even before scoring my goal. Everyone did, it was a solid team performance from start to finish.

"Our goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make."

Introductory offer. David Wotherspoon's first goal for the Pars was a beauty. (Image: Craig Brown) READ MORE: Five things we learned from Dunfermline's victory over Raith Rovers

Pars tried to sign Wotherspoon last summer and he showed the fans what they'd been missing with a brilliant goal in the 80th minute of Friday's match, his curling effort into the top corner helping to end a six-match run against Raith without a victory.

He said: “I was aware of the derby record. I was here training last year during pre-season and also at the start of the season when they were playing games.

“I was always keeping track of how they were getting on even after I went to Inverness and Dundee United.

“Every time they played Raith, I watched the highlights and they performed really well. I don’t think they deserved to lose all of those games.

“But the manager talked about the record in the build-up and we had a point to prove to put it right.”

Dunfermline are now off the bottom of the Championship - they're up to 7th - while Raith now occupy last place in the division.

Wotherspoon said they'd had a "sticky start to the season" and went on: "The boys turned up and performed really well. It was a great result against our rivals and one we needed.

“We are picking up more belief in ourselves, that we can go out there and get results. At the start of the season, we were maybe a bit complacent and expansive.

“I feel we’ve got to a point where we are all working for each other now and the confidence is back.

“But we can’t just expect to turn up to these games and win. We want to keep it going and put a run together."