Dunfermline predictions.

[robert67]

gonna go 2-1 rovers on this. funny feeling the pars will have out a very weakened side since league is done and dusted for them.

[harriskid44]

I go with a 1-1 Draw, but hope rovers win with home advantage.

[Roy of the Rovers]

I'm going for a 2-0 Pars win which is hopefully completely wrong!

[Deleted]

As I am going to miss the match today it will be a magnificent, party spoiling, 3-1 victory to the Rovers.

[Rover n out]

Dunfermline hangover, Rovers to win 1.0.

[mildrover]

Under par Dunfermline to lose to Rovers in a comfortable win for the home side.

[Deleted]

I'll take anything from this one. A win would be a wild dream but most welcome.

[Prof]

Agree we could hopefully catch them cold and sneak a shock win however I'll go for another 1-1 draw. Stranraer playing Airdrie today therefore all sorts of possibilities regarding the League positions!

[sam]

Don't see us getting anything from this today, the pressure is off them now as the title is won so might just let them play with a bit more freedom. With no big attacking threat we will no doubt be relying on our defensive qualities again. Think it will be 3-0 them

[harriskid44]

Hard luck at the end there, thought rovers were going to get the Draw,

[stewmelrover]

Gutted.Rovers played superbly, but again missed chances cost us. We all need to get behind this battling XI as we now have a fight on our hands to stay up. Eek!

[Deleted]

Another if only (we had a striker). Still, we did go above Airdrie. Keep on fighting guys!

[bucky]

Should have held onto Gemmell

That said cant be too critical of the players but it has to be said it was kind of a self inflicted defeat. Passed up some great chances( McBride) and our corner kick leading up to their goal was way short in quality.

[d7]

Another really enjoyable game where we played very well but ultimately came away empty handed. It feels a tad churlish to complain following the performance today but I'm going to do it upfront and get it out the way before I get onto the good bits. So that's now 4 wins in our last 21 league games going back to the end of October. That's not good enough by any stretch of the imagination. Having said that of course we end up going up to 5th in the league today courtesy of Airdrie getting pumped by Stranraer! The play offs (at both ends) are still within our grasp so we're hanging in there but we seem to be getting by now on scraps.

A super intense warm up before the game with everyone just stopping short of having a group hug courtesy of the PA announcer congratulating Dunfermline on their league win, congratulating Sandy Clark, (and rightly so) and the general feel good factor of collecting for the Beatson - again a very worthwhile cause.

First surprise of the day was to see a team emerging in a yellow and red strip. It was only by looking closely at the man leading them out and recognising big Mick that I realised it was in fact the Rovers in their by now unfamiliar home kit. The guys duly applauded Dunfermline on to the pitch which was a nice gesture.

Just before kick off then we went into our wee huddle. Not sure what the topic of conversation was but it seemed to be a group teach-in for Ally on how to tie his laces. Time clearly well spent as they stayed fastened for the full 90 minutes.

We got off to our usual good start and took the game to the champions. We settled down quite quickly and played some nice stuff without really threatening. As the half wore on Dunfermline came into the game a bit more and their pace up front was troubling our back 4. We seemed to struggle to find our best line up during that first half. We started with Paul through the middle and then moved him out right to put Ally up top. No sooner had we tried that when Ally dropped back and McBride was up front on his lonesome. None of it seemed to make much difference in truth. Incidentally the Paul Archibald fan club was sat next to me today. They were quite vocal every time he touched the ball. And they had their own songs for him that weren't cringeworthy at all..........Although they clearly sang them tongue in cheek!

The first half was a bit short on action hence my rambling to date. Faissal had a good snap chance which came about from some over elaborate defensive work by us when we really should just have cleared our lines. Ross saved his shot well. McBride seems to fancy himself as a long range specialist and he broke forward and you could see him shaping to shoot from at least 30 yards. I trust no cars were damaged in the car park but can't be certain. So one ball lost and more on that later.

We won a free kick which allowed us to show off a move straight from the training ground. It was well executed but Fish drilled his shot well wide. The best chance of the half fell to us right on the stroke of half time. A good move saw the ball break to Ross Davidson and he created the space but hit his shot well wide. So 0-0 at half time and that was that.

2 coaches for 4 substitutes at half time saw some decent work undertaken. No complaints today. Paul Reilly getting his head shaved for charity was good entertainment.

Into the second half and the pattern of play was much the same. Dunfermline seem to rely on a long ball out of defence, bypassing the midfield and then playing all their decent stuff in our third of the pitch. As the half wore on we came more and more into the game and in truth we dominated for long periods. Dunfermline always looked dangerous on the break but we had the best of the chances.

Unfortunately our two best chances fell to McBride who had left his shooting boots at home.........again. The first saw a well worked short corner played into him and from a few yards out it seemed harder to miss. However miss he did and it was a sitter. His second chance also came from a corner. The ball got played in and broke to him about 8 yards out. He had plenty of time but hit a poor shot straight at the keeper.

In fairness Dunfermline hit the post twice so did have their chances and on another day we might have been beaten more comprehensively.

We were well on top but as in previous weeks we just couldn't score. A quick break forward saw McBride play in Ally who was clean through but hauled back by the linesman's offside flag. Our best chances all came from set pieces and we had a fair few corners and free kicks today. Dunfermline were fairly robust shall we say in defence and one of their full backs was lucky not to see red for a disgraceful 2 footed challenge on Georgiev I think it was. Fish swung most of the balls in and in truth they caused havoc in the Dunfermline defence. But we just couldn't take our chances.

Dunfermline's blootered clearances were worrying the seagulls somewhat. Two balls ended up stuck on the stand roof and one ended up out the front of the stadium. Add that to the ball McBride lost in the first half and we were 4 balls down! I can't be certain but I'm sure I saw Darren slip Billy Stark a few quid to cross the road to Home Bargains for some spares. Billy duly re-entered the stadium with a pink Barbie fly away ball under each arm. Next time just pay the 5p for the bag Billy.

In fact our dominance at set pieces was ultimately our undoing as it was from one of them that Dunfermline scored. Our set piece routine is always the same and I mean always. Every ball is aimed for Mick at the back post. And both Mick and brother Ross go forward for them all. We had already been caught out once from our own set piece when Dunfermline broke forward quickly and were clean through. Their striker hit his shot straight at Ross who in fairness saved well. And the goal when it came was just as well worked. From a Rovers set piece, Dunfermline broke forward with real pace. We got back to defend and forced Cardle wide and he seemed to have blown it. However he cut back inside and chipped the ball to Faissal who headed in from around 6 yards with our defence in sixes and sevens.

The goal was totally against the run of play but well taken nevertheless. It probably underlines why Dunfermline are champions and well, we're not. It was a cruel blow though and with only about 5 mins left to play it really knocked the stuffing out of us. We deserved so much more out of the game and if only we could finish it would be oh so different.

So another defeat but another hard luck story. We matched and indeed bettered Dunfermline for large parts of the game but still emerged with nothing to show for our efforts. The team can't be faulted for effort and application and they play some nice stuff. But without a cutting edge it is all quickly undone.

Attendance today was an all ticket 1413. Something of a party atmosphere and a right good, proper game of football. Ross Dunlop was man of the match as chosen by the sponsors. We had a number of good performances throughout the team and really today anyone could have won it.

Stranraer seem to have come good at just the right time of the season and must be favourites for 4th. As for the play offs at the bottom of the table, no one can really say they are safe at the moment. One more win will probably be enough for us but realistically where is it going to come from? We might be okay even without the win but it would just be nice to have something to cheer me up on a Saturday night!

[Deleted]

Played some good football today. Superb team performance and great effort once again. It would be difficult and probably a bit unfair to find too many faults.
Dunfermline came for an easy game and a bucket load of goals...party time for them!

But as the game wore on they became a bit mute and started hurling abuse at our support. To be quite honest felt their cheering after their goal was more in relief than anything else. It was good to see us open them up throughout the game.
Well done to the team, if we play like that to the end of the season we'll pick up the few points we need.