THROUGH the "hurt" and humiliation of losing five Fife derbies in a row, Ewan Otoo also remembered the way Raith's players celebrated at full-time.

It fuelled a determination for revenge that was all the sweeter after his deflected goal - he's now scored in back-to-back matches in the Championship - paved the way for Athletic to pick up a precious three points and end their rotten run.

In the build-up to the derby Pars boss James McPake reminded his team of their dismal record in this fixture and challenged them to claim their first league win of the season and climb above their rivals in the league table.

READ MORE: Dunfermline off bottom of the league with win over Raith

Otoo said: “Naturally that serves a lot of motivation. Everyone is aware of what happened last season.

"We remember moments like that both home and away and the way they celebrated when they won games.

"It hurts as a footballer so we just used motivation to go and put on a performance. I think we did that.”

Dunfermline midfielder Ewan Otoo strikes the first blow in the derby, with his deflected shot giving his side the lead. Dunfermline midfielder Ewan Otoo strikes the first blow in the derby, with his deflected shot giving his side the lead. (Image: Craig Brown) As for his goal, which broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute, the midfielder recalled: "I was a wee bit lucky with the deflection but they all count.

"Another goal for me - hopefully they put it down for me - and I’m delighted with that. That’s the first thing I will be checking, I’m pretty sure it was going on target so I hope so.”

You'd expect Dunfermline players to be up for a Fife derby but the task now is to replicate that level of performance and use that first win as a springboard for their season.

Otoo agreed: "Yes, absolutely. It is all that we have been talking about all week.

"We had a good performance against Ayr two weeks ago, a good performance last week against East Fife and we were just looking forward to taking that into this game.

"Thankfully we got a result and we have to keep building on that.”

READ MORE: Five things we learned from Dunfermline's victory over Rovers

The win took them off the bottom of the league and the 22-year-old went on: "It is important psychologically, when you look at the table it does make a difference.

Ewan Otoo wheels away in triumph after putting Athletic in front. Ewan Otoo wheels away in triumph after putting Athletic in front. (Image: Craig Brown) "Now it looks better for us and hopefully we can keep moving up the way and see where it takes us.”

Asked what had changed from the start of the campaign, when the Pars couldn't buy a win in the league cup or Championship, he said: “Honestly I don’t think much is different.

"Maybe things weren’t happening the way we wanted them to happen. The team has always been together, we always knew that we would come out of the little rut that we were in.

"Thankfully we have come out of it in the best way possible."

Dunfermline's last home win was also a Friday night affair, against Dundee United in March, and Otoo laughed: "“We have a thing for the Friday night apparently.

"We like the big games on the TV under the lights. As a player that motivates you all the time and you don’t need any extra motivation than a derby game.

"Hopefully we can keep showing up at the big moments and see where it takes us.”