IT WAS a crucial goal that secured three points and settled this basement battle in the Pars favour - and the match-winning hero didn't even know he'd scored.
Stumbling as he connected with the ball, a grounded Lewis McCann was wondering what had happened until the roar of the crowd and the thump of his team-mates jumping on his back told him the outcome.
Asked to describe the moment of glory, which saw Pars remain in ninth place but open up a seven point gap over Airdrie, he laughed: "I couldn't tell you.
"I thought I got pushed and I didn't think it was going in and then I just heard the fans celebrating.
"So, I was actually shocked it went in. I didn't see it go in, but I just heard everyone celebrating.
"The boys were already on me by the time I actually realised it was a goal."
McCann went on: "It was a massive game. Two teams at the bottom of the table and a big game for us to win.
"Obviously, we're delighted."
He added: "We've not won too many games this season. So, to get two wins in a row is a big confidence booster. Hopefully, we can build on it."
Across all competitions, McCann is now Dunfermline's leading scorer with five goals from 18 appearances.
He started early, netting inside five minutes in the opening day 3-0 league cup win at Spartans, hit a fine free kick at East Fife in the same competition in a 2-0 stroll and delivered a bullet header in the 2-1 defeat in the Championship at Falkirk.
He then hit winners at East End Park in 1-0 victories against Alloa and now Airdrie.
McCann, like most forwards, is a confidence player - it's a mystery why football fans think their own players will perform better when they give them abuse instead of backing when they inevitably make a mistake - and when it's going well the goals tend to come.
For him they come in sprees.
As well as the last two matches for Dunfermline, he netted in back-to-back games last season, against Raith and Annan, and then in the matches with Queen's Park and Morton, and did at the start of the 2022-23 season too, against East Fife and Buckie Thistle.
After his latest winner he said: "As a striker, it's your job to score goals.
"It's nice to get goals in back-to-back games, especially when I scored seven last season.
"You're obviously looking to improve season by season. I'll be looking to beat that this season, definitely."
As befitting two struggling sides, the match wasn't pretty at times and the Pars fans made their discontent clear.
McCann admitted: "You're aware of it. They pay their money to come watch the game, they want to see us winning and when we're not doing that, we can understand their frustration.
"It's one of those ones where you sort of have to listen to it and use it to try and motivate yourself to do better on the pitch."
It was an ugly but important win and the striker praised his team-mates for keeping a clean sheet.
He said: "It was a battle.
"I think that's one thing we've not really done this season.
"There's been certain games that we've put good performances in, we've just conceded slack goals and not scored enough.
"So, it's quite good to grind out a hard-fought win."
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