Montrose`s Wright Substitute

It was Dunfermline Athletic`s first league defeat of the season at the weekend; it was on Match-Day 12, away to Montrose.

The Links Park outfit have proven for seasons now under Stewart Petrie that they are more than capable of challenging at the right end of SPFL cinch League One and this result didn`t come as a major shock to many supporters for this very reason.

It was a highly competitive match, albeit neither goalkeeper was overly worked. Deniz Mehmet was busier in the early stages, rushing out of his goal into the middle of the park before losing possession, but the long-range attempt couldn`t compete with Matty Todd`s Magical Moment versus Clyde (click to view), as the ball was cleared off the line. But then the Pars grew into the match and had chances of their own.

Chris Mochrie was at the heart of the offensive play by the visitors against his former loan club, but Ross Sinclair kept the Dundee United youngster at bay with a superb stop following a slaloming run by Mochrie into the Gable Endies penalty area.

James McPake`s men started the second-half brightly too and if a goal was going to be scored on Saturday afternoon, at this stage, you wouldn`t bet against the league leaders getting the ball into the net. However, in the 61st minute, Petrie made the Wright substitution at the Wright time. Matthew Wright, that is – the on-loan Ross County man was the telling difference between the sides come full-time.

Only 2 minutes after entering the field of play, he finished off a free-flowing move by the hosts with a calm right-footed finish past Mehmet: this changed the game as the Pars now had to twist and try and score with even more urgency, to get themselves back into the Match-Day 12 contest,

Despite the best efforts of the players, they couldn`t find the quality or creative spark in the final third to open up a well-marshalled defence in the closing half an hour of the match and would come away with nothing.

Wright rubbed salt into the wounds of Athletic in the closing stages though, when he forced a mistake out of Aaron Comrie, raced onto the loose ball and slotted it home, through the legs of Mehmet.

It was a painful afternoon for the Pars; not just because of the defeat, but also because Falkirk – who started the day in 2nd place – also lost, to Kelty Hearts. Despite FC Edinburgh winning, Dunfermline Athletic remain at the summit of SPFL cinch League One by 1 point going into Match-Day 13, but it is the result in Grangemouth which caught the eyes of the supporters leaving the ground wearing Black & White, with Kelty at home and Falkirk away the next 2 fixtures for DAFC.

Manager McPake was calm after the match and stated he was proud of the players for their start to the campaign and knew the fans would be as well.

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