Dunfermline: James McPake reacts to Partick Thistle defeat

With a bitty, scrappy contest looking set to end in stalemate, Aidan Fitzpatrick popped up in the final minute to rifle home and snatch all three points for the Jags.

Dunfermline, who lost David Wotherspoon and Tommy Fogarty to first half injuries, had worked hard defensively to limit their opponents to few opportunites, with Aaron Muirhead's header off the bar the closest they came until Fitzpatrick's intervention.

READ MORE: Thistle sting the Pars with late winner

The visitors, however, struggled to create themselves, and McPake said his side weren't at their best in possession.

"Not being good enough on the ball, simple as that," was his reply when asked what he put the outcome down to.

"I thought we were last week and, even against the 11 men, we were asking more questions of Raith Rovers last week. In this league, just being really hard-working, and really structured at certain points in the game, and working really hard, and being defensively hard to break down, isn't enough in this league.

"Teams in this league will punish you if you don't take a rest on the ball. I'll need to see the game back, that's all we've said to the players, but it didn't feel comfortable at all, all afternoon, in terms of the way we kept the ball.

James McPake felt his side weren't good enough on the ball at Firhill. (Image: Craig Brown.)

"The way they (Partick) play, they're pretty direct, but they're really effective at the top end of the pitch, and they ask loads of questions, so you need to be composed on the ball, and we weren't that today.

"That's the exact reason why we didn't create enough. Why we didn't stress their defence enough, or stress their team enough to ask them real questions, was simply down to the fact we weren't good enough on the ball."

There was a pre-match boost for the Pars with the inclusion of new signing Craig Clay - who signed a one-year deal on Friday - and Matty Todd, who hadn't played since fracturing his collarbone in pre-season - on the bench.

They were joined there by goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi - who missed out with a "small niggle" - and he was replaced by Deniz Mehmet.

However, neither he or his opposite number, Myles Roberts, were overly tested throughout a 90 minutes that was full of effort, but lacking in spark until its end.

Former Kelty Hearts loanee Kanayo Megwa, making his Thistle debut after joining them from Hibernian on a similar arrangement, and Fitzpatrick caused early problems as Kris Doolan's side started strongly.

Headers off target from Dan O'Reilly, and Luke McBeth, were as close as they came in the first 45 minutes, whilst Dunfermline had a difficult half chance for Sam Young, and a Kane Ritchie-Hosler shot wide, in response.

However, during an opening period that was littered with niggly fouls, the visitors lost both David Wotherspoon and Tommy Fogarty to injury, with Todd and Sam Fisher replacing them.

Matty Todd made his long-awaited comeback from injury. (Image: Craig Brown.)

McPake reported that Wotherspoon had felt a "tightness in his hamstring", whilst on-loan Birmingham City centre half Fogarty's eye was "closing over" following a collision with Harry Milne.

When it was put to him that his side had to adapt to to enforced changes, the boss replied: "That's football though.

"The squad's good. I've sat many a time and bemoaned the fact that we've not got enough players, we've not got this and that, but the squad's good.

Tommy Fogarty was forced off with an injury to his eye. (Image: Craig Brown.)

"Hopefully the injuries are ok, but that shouldn't have made any difference."

Immediately after the restart, Thistle pressed again, with Aaron Comrie blocking from Fitzpatrick, and Terry Ablade nodding over, but Pars weathered the storm.

Clay made his bow just before the hour mark and, moments later, Dunfermline almost lead when Fisher was unfortunate to watch a header, from an inviting Kieran Ngwenya cross, finish just wide of the far post.

Craig Clay came on for his Pars debut. (Image: Craig Brown.)

Todd then lashed over, before Muirhead headed a Fitzpatrick free-kick off the Pars bar, and then Roberts made his only real save, dropping comfortably on to Ritchie-Hosler's effort from outside the box.

However, just as the game looked set to end scoreless, a Thistle break saw Fitzpatrick run into the Dunfermline box, and create the space he needed to rifle a dramatic winner underneath the helpless Mehmet.

"To lose a goal so late on, and I've not seen the goal back, but it didn't look that they had to do an awful lot to score it, so to get to that point in the game, and come away with nothing, is disappointing," McPake said.

"In terms of the way they worked, and the effort, application, that was ok. In fact, it was better than ok. The lads gave absolutely everything. I don't think we were anywhere near, or good enough, on the ball, which is disappointing.

"We didn't take a rest on the ball, we didn't keep the ball long enough, and, if you get out there with a point, I think that would've even maybe been an undeserving point on the basis of the footballing performance.

"But, with the hard work they put in, it's a sore one, so late on."