Dunfermline Athletic 3 - 3 Ross County

It wasn’t quite Chelsea v Everton, but entertaining nevertheless . Five good quality goals (and even the penalty was well-taken), two more cleared off the line, last-ditch tackles, near misses, fine saves – but no last minute winner for the Pars. Still, it beats Christmas shopping...

County take the lead from the spot

Two changes from Ayr – as predicted Andy Kirk started but at the expense of Bayne, and McGregor came back in instead of Higgins. There were welcome returns to the bench for Woods and Cardle, but no sign yet of Fleming nor of Glass. And so we had Smith in goals, Ross at right back, McCann at left back, McGregor and Dowie the centre-backs, Graham and Gibson on the wings, Burke and Bell in centre midfield and Kirk and McDougall the strike-force. County had Pars interest with Scott Morrison at left back, but Craig Brewster would only feature as part of the back room staff.

With East End Park shrouded in mist, County won the toss and surprisingly elected to shoot towards the Cowdenbeath end. However it was the Pars took who took early possession, a McDougall flick sent Bell away on the right and with the photographers scampering back to get into position, Kirk’s header fell on top of the net. County settled first, though, with Gardyne trying to spray passes about and Scott putting Ross under pressure, and took the lead after 8 minutes from the penalty spot. Last week Burke got away with a shocker of a clearance, this week he was not so fortunate with a dreadful pass-back which Lawson pounced on; McGregor always had ground to catch up, his desperate tackle wasn’t good enough and Willie Collum pointed to the spot. Brittain took the kick, stuttered in his run-up and sent Smith the wrong way. 1-0 County.

After Scott Morrison had incurred the ire of the patrons in the North-West stand by being slow to return the ball for a shy, Burke again ran into trouble, over-running the ball and being caught out by a combination of Kettlewell and Scott, Greg Ross being forced into a foul to stop the County attack. However the Pars got back into the game out of almost nothing. A quick free kick was taken, the ball played forward, McDougall got the faintest of touches to knock it into the path of Kirk, who rather than take it with his left foot which seemed more natural, foxed McGovern with a right-foot lob from 12 yards. One each.

Parity didn’t last for long – 3 minutes later and Lawson latched on to a loose ball 30 yards out, hit it on the volley off the underside of the bar – an absolute screamer - Smith didn’t even move. 2-1 County.

Back came the Pars, the ball seeming to come off Morrison’s arm, but Collum decisively pointed to the corner flag, not the spot – and when Gibson drilled in the corner McGregor connected with Kettlewell’s head, rather than the ball. Gardyne was next to have a go from 30 yards on the half-hour, but Smith gathered easily low to his left, before the Pars first came close to getting, then got, the second equaliser. Graham managed to retain possession despite nearly falling, and with McDougall skipping out of his way had half a yard to send in a cross. The ball wasn’t fully cleared, and with McDougall this time smartly getting out of Burke’s way, Alex chested down the ball, took it almost to the bye-line before shooting narrowly past the far post as the crowd got to their feet. Two minutes later and the ball was in the net – Gibson playing a perfectly weighted ball into the channel, where Kirk’s perfectly timed run allowed him to tuck the ball just inside the far post. Two each. Still time for one more? Plenty of time as it happened.

In 37 minutes McDougall again sprung the offside trap to collect the ball on the right and headed for goal. Kirk, looking for a first-half hat-trick, stepped back off his marker, was found by McDougall, but didn’t get clean contact and although the ball beat McGovern, Kettlewell was able to clear off the line. Four minutes later Graham just managed to keep the ball in by the touchline, ending up half way up the steps towards the hospitality suites, but sent McDougall clear. Steven twisted and turned on the proverbial sixpence but he could only manage to squeeze the ball behind Kirk. No matter, the Pars picked up the ball again in the person of Gibson and with Bell making a diversionary run Willie cut onto his left and curved the ball beyond McGovern and in at the far post.

Half Time: Pars 3 Staggies 2

The mist had mostly cleared, and after the drama of the first half, it was too much to hope that the second half would live up to the standard set. It was a good 10 minutes before anything of note happened, McGregor’s challenge in the middle of the park being brushed aside rather easily, and McCann having to come to the rescue with a brilliant last-ditch tackle on Di Giacomo virtually on the penalty spot. McCann again was alert enough to make a key interception in 62 minutes before starting a counter-attack virtually unaided, but the Pars had fallen out of things slightly, a Gibson header from distance being the only half-chance created.