Dunfermline Athletic suffer home defeat to Queen's Park

Josh Cooper’s first goal for the club sparked hopes of a late fightback but Queen’s held on to keep Dunfermline joint bottom of the Championship.

Zak Rudden put the visitors in front and, despite a triple substitution for the Pars at half-time, a defensive mistake allowed Sean Welsh to head home the second goal for the Spiders.

Cooper climbed off the bench and had a strong shout for a penalty before he netted with just over 10 minutes left, but despite a flurry of late chances they couldn’t find an equaliser.

James McPake’s men had been unable to build on that derby win over Raith, their first league victory of the season, and a three match unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt at Firhill last Saturday.

And off the pitch the fans were in the spotlight with a warning from the club that the north west stand could be closed if the trouble evident in the match against Rovers – including pyrotechnics, damage to seats and projectiles thrown at the assistant referee – continues.

The stewards stationed at that section of the stadium proved far more effective at keeping a lid on any trouble than the Dunfermline players with Callum Davidson’s men enjoying most of the possession and carrying a far greater threat.

For long periods, Dunfermline struggled, with too many misplaced passes and a blunt attack giving visiting goalkeeper Calum Ferrie very little to do.

The intensity that was so pivotal in the win over Raith and draw with Ayr, with the Pars relentlessly pressing and harassing the opposition, was missing.

It had looked so promising at kick-off with derby goal hero David Wotherspoon, who came off injured in the 1-0 defeat to Partick Thistle, back in the starting line-up with Craig Clay making his first start and home debut.

Athletic were still without goalie Tobi Oluwayemi though and, from the team that started against the Jags, Kane Ritchie-Hosler dropped to the bench and Kieran Ngwenya missed out altogether.

Matty Todd also came into the side while, due to the emergence of Sam Young and Tommy Fogarty as a reliable partnership in the middle of the back four, centre back Rhys Breen joined Annan on loan on Friday.

Unbeaten in their last three games, the Spiders knocked the ball about confidently and took the lead in the 14th minute with a simple goal that would have infuriated McPake.

Roddy MacGregor swung in a corner from the left, Dane Murray nodded it towards goal and Rudden tapped in from near enough the goal-line with a crowd of Pars players too slow to react and get anywhere near to stopping it.

The response saw Lewis McCann bash a shot wide of target and moments later a clever ball from Clay released Aaron Comrie to dink an inviting ball into the box but there were no takers.

A mistake from Wotherspoon almost let Queen’s in for a second goal in the 24th minute when his duff pass was picked up by ex-Par Dom Thomas.

It looked like Chris Hamilton had slid in and got the ball but the ref gave a free kick just outside the box and booked the Athletic skipper for the tackle.

And his luck didn’t get any better when he was floored by the free kick, with Ryan Duncan smacking the ball straight into his face.

When they did get control of the ball, a passing move from Dunfermline saw them keep possession but without really going anywhere.

When they coughed it up, Rudden swept the ball across the pitch to Duncan on the opposite flank and raced into the box for the return, narrowly missing the low delivery across goal.

The Pars boss showed his displeasure with a triple substitution at half-time, hauling off Hamilton, Wotherspoon and Todd and bringing on Sam Fisher, Cooper and Joe Chalmers.

And Young made way in the 50th minute for Ritchie-Hosler, with Athletic keen to change the dynamic and ask some questions of the Spiders’ defence.

Too often, promising moves broke down with a poor pass, heavy touch or inaccurate delivery as the home team ran out of ideas and struggled to find some rhythm and fluency.

There was a chance in the 55th minute, when Cooper’s corner found Chris Kane at the back post, but it was just too high for him and the header was off target.

Pars then shot themselves in the foot when Fisher gifted the ball straight to Thomas, who jinked away from a challenge and arrowed a shot towards the bottom corner that Deniz Mehmet did well to turn around the post.

But from the corner, Cammy Kerr peeled away to the back post and nodded the ball back across goal for Welsh to dash in and bury a close range 61st minute header into the net.

Rudden almost added another with a ferocious hit from a tight angle, Mehmet getting fists behind it, before a real moment of controversy at the other end.

Cooper’s well struck shot was blocked but as he connected with the rebound the ball looked to have been stopped by a grounded Kerr using his hands.

Ferrie managed to get out quick to prevent Cooper poking the loose ball past him and there was fury in the stands and home dugout when the ref waved play on and didn't give a penalty.

Comrie was inches away from pulling a goal back with a far post header but the Pars grabbed a lifeline in the 78th minute when Cooper latched on to Ritchie-Hosler’s pass and cracked an angled effort across the goalie and into the net.

A real scramble in the box saw Comrie’s shot deflected wide and from the corner McCann’s blast was stopped by a bank of red shirts, with Kane missing a snip in front of goal in the final seconds.

Dunfermline threw everything into those final attacks but Queen’s held out for the win.