Dunfermline Athletic v Stenhousemuir FC

Match Report

Dunfermline Athletic v Stenhousemuir at East End Park, Dunfermline on 9.11.13
SPFL League One  Att 2,517
Dunfermline 3 [Byrne 37, Wallace 66, A.Smith 90] Stenhousemuir 2 [McKinlay 23, D.Smith 49]
For the second time this season the Warriors lost out to Dunfermline by virtue of the Fifers scoring the winning goal in the last minute of the game. Whilst both encounters engendered feelings of high disappointment this latest affair left a sour taste in the mouth.
Dunfermline started the game the better but rarely troubled Stenhousemuir and they only had an Alan Smith shot that went wide to show for their efforts.
In the 12th minute Callum Morris collided with Chris Smith as he went in horizontally at the keeper who had barely left the ground and Smith was lucky to continue after being caught with an elbow. He did require lengthy treatment though before his resumption and required stitches to a wound around the eye after the game. At best it was a rash tackle but the referee thought nothing of it apart from awarding a foul.
Hackles were raised and John Gemmell went into the book immediately after the resumption with a rash looking tackle on Kerr Young. A minute later Chris Smith was called into action to save from Shaun Byrne after the ball had been given away cheaply.
The Warriors were playing a more defensive game than of late and Dunfermline had the upper hand in terms of possession but it was the visitors who made the breakthrough in the 23rd minute. A Brown Ferguson free kick was whipped in from the left and missed by everyone apart from Kevin McKinlay who headed home from close range. They had another chance on the half hour when another free was not cleared properly and fell to David Rowson who chipped the ball over the defence to Ross McMillan but a high bounce thwarted the Warrior as it gave Ryan Scully the opportunity to collect. 
Dunfermline’s equaliser in the 37th minute had a touch of good fortune to it as Byrne was allowed space to advance on goal before hitting a mishit effort that deflected off Ross McMillan and effectively wrong footed Chris Smith and went into the net.
The second half saw Stenhousemuir take the lead again in the 49th minute when Gemmell played the ball behind the Pars defence for Darren Smith and his pace took him into the box where he finished the move by tucking the ball into the far corner from 16 yards.
Dunfermline were looking exposed, as they played a high defensive line, to the counter attack and were fortuitous to keep the score at 2-1 when a ball was threaded behind their defence once again. Darren Smith got to the ball marginally before Sean Dickson but he was flagged offside whilst if it had ran through to Dickson he had held the line better and would have found himself one on one with the keeper.
Dunfermline made the most of that lifeline and equalised in the 66th minute. Ryan Wallace advanced into the box saw Dickson’s leg stuck out and went over it though whether there was even contact was debatable to say the least. The only interpretation that matters though on these occasions though is the one made by the referee and he awarded a penalty much to the dismay of the Warriors players. Wallace stepped up and fired the ball down the middle of the goals to bring the scores level.
Stenhousemuir came close with a Ross Brash strike that was deflected from an Eddie Malone corner in the 73rd minute but as the game progressed it was Dunfermline to the fore and Wallace and Smith were to be denied by fine Smith saves.
There was further ill feeling when the play was not stopped for treatment to Darren Smith who was cleared injured, and may miss several games, with the game coming to a halt only after a robust Kevin McKinlay tackle brought proceedings to a halt. Dunfermline may have thought it was time wasting but that was not the case. 
The Fifers took the lead in the dying seconds when an Alan Smith shot ended in the far corner after a deceptive bounce caught Kevin McKinlay out as he was about to clear.
All in all this was once again a hard result to take as the Warriors deserved to take something out of the game but once again Dunfermline have to get some credit for playing to the final whistle and not settling for a draw.
Incidentally the new name in the squad listed below is Ryan Coleman a midfield player who is a 16 year old currently playing in the new Forth Valley youth set up.  
Dunfermline Athletic – Scully, Mullen, Whittle, Young, Morris, Byrne, A.Smith, Husband [Dargo 68], Wallace, Falkingham and Thomson [Ferguson 58]. Subs not used – Johnston, Martin, Kane, Williamson and Goodfellow.
Stenhousemuir – C.Smith, Devlin [b68], McKinlay, Malone [b61], McMillan, Ferguson [Brash 59], Dickson, Rowson, Gemmell [b18], Lynch [b47] and D.Smith [Douglas 90]. Subs not used – McNeil, Coleman, Shaw and Watt.
Referee – John McKendrick Assistants – Grant Irvine and Scott Leslie.