James McPake says Dunfermline were poor against Queen's Park

JAMES McPake refused to blame the referee for failing to give a "certain penalty" and admitted he picked the wrong team to play the Spiders.

Dunfermline sub Josh Cooper's shot looked to have been handled by Queen's defender Cammy Kerr but the spot kick wasn't awarded and although the midfielder did go on to score it was too little too late.

The Pars boss said: "It’s tough. Looking at it live, it looked like a certain penalty.

"Watching it from the pitch side, speaking to the players, they are all adamant that it was a penalty but it wasn’t given.

"Ultimately, two corners and the first half performance has cost us the points, not a refereeing decision.”

Athletic were abject here and are now joint bottom of the Championship with Airdrie. The relentless pressing, energy and intensity that was key in the draw against Ayr and win over Raith was absent for some reason.

Josh Cooper netted his first goal for Dunfermline. (Image: Craig Brown) Instead, there was a ponderous, error-strewn display with too many misplaced passes, heavy touches, poor deliveries and a blunt attack that left Queen's goalie Calum Ferrie with nothing to do in the first half.

READ MORE: Josh strike is too little too late as Queen's stun Pars 

Goals in each half from Zak Rudden and Sean Welsh had the Glasgow side 2-0 up and although Cooper's first goal for Dunfermline, with just over 10 minutes left, sparked a flurry of late chances the three points deservedly headed west.

A frustrated McPake said: "You can start with the two goals we concede.

"Queen’s Park had two corners in the game and punish us. It’s the nature of it as well, two second phase balls from corners that we’re just not dealing with.

"You flip it, I don’t know how many we had but it was a lot of corners, probably over double figures.

"What happens when they’re coming in - even the one where we were unlucky with Aaron Comrie - Queen's Park do enough to put him off.

Tommy Fogarty battles for possession with Zak Rudden. (Image: Craig Brown) "We certainly didn’t do that. It’s disappointing to lose those two goals, but disappointed for the first half performance as well.”

The boss made three changes at half-time, replacing Chris Hamilton, David Wotherspoon and Matty Todd with Sam Fisher, Cooper and Joe Chalmers.

McPake conceded: "The performance did feel that poor, particularly at home.

"It’s not something you want to do, make three changes at half time. "Myself and Dave, we’ve got to hold our hands up, we got the selection wrong."

He said they were marginally better in the second half, with more chances created towards the end, but added: "We certainly got the team in the first half wrong and credit to the ones that come on, they come on and make a difference to the team.”

Dunfermline conceded in the 14th minute when Roddy MacGregor swung in a corner from the left, Dane Murray's header was heading for goal and Rudden tapped in from near enough the goal-line to make sure.

There was a crowd of Pars players in the box but they were too slow to react and get anywhere near to stopping it.

Loose passes typified the home side's day.

They got away with the first one, Wotherspoon gifting possession to Rudden and Hamilton forced to bring him down on the edge of the box - albeit it looked like the midfielder got the ball.

Hamilton was yellow carded and his day didn't get any better when Ross Duncan slammed the resulting free kick into his face and he was hooked at half-time.

The second blatant error they paid for in the 61st minute.

Fisher's pass was easily intercepted by ex-Par Dom Thomas and he rifled the ball low towards the bottom corner, with Deniz Mehmet doing well to turn it round the post.

But from the corner Kerr peeled to the back post, nodded the ball across goal and Welsh ran in to bury a close-range header.

Cooper's shot looked to have been stopped on the ground by Kerr's arm and he couldn't force the loose ball past Ferrie, with the referee waving away loud appeals for a penalty.

He did get the ball in the net in the 78th minute, flashing a low left-footed finish across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner, and that sparked a mini-revival.

Lewis McCann, Ewan Otoo, Chalmers, Aaron Comrie, Kane Ritchie-Hosler, Chris Kane and Craig Wighton - practically everyone apart from Mehmet - all had efforts at goal but Queen's managed to get someone in the way every time.

Pars Mehmet, Comrie, Fogarty, Young (Ritchie-Hosler 50), Otoo, Todd (Chalmers 46), Hamilton (Fisher 46), Clay (Wighton 74), Wotherspoon (Cooper 46), McCann, Kane.

Subs not used: Briggs, O’Halloran, T Sutherland.

Booked: Hamilton (24), Wotherspoon (39), Dave Mackay (64).

Goal: Cooper (78) Queen’s Park Ferrie, Kerr, Tizzard, Murray, Fieldson, Welsh, Turner, Thomas, Macgregor, Duncan (Longridge 74), Rudden.

Subs not used: Wills, Mauchin, Ujdur, Hinds, Hickey-Fugaccia, McLeish, Evans, Scott.

Booked: Welsh (64), Macgregor (90).

Goals: Rudden (14), Welsh (61).

Referee: Duncan Nicolson.

Attendance: 4,494 (188 away fans).