Boxing world champion Ken Buchanan could scarcely have bettered the late knockout blow with which East Fife striker Liam Buchanan pole-axed his old club at East End Park on Saturday.
The 28-year-old’s curling effort from outside the box deceived keeper Ryan Scully and completed a late comeback as the outplayed visitors scored twice in the last 11 minutes to climb off the bottom of the table.
“It’s always nice to come back here and even better to get the winning goal,” said Buchanan, who helped Dunfermline to promotion in 2011.
“I just took a touch and saw the keeper stepping forward slightly, and I tried to catch him off his line. Thankfully, it went in. As soon as it left my foot, I thought ‘That’s going in’.
“It was a great result for us and a great team performance. It was a good atmosphere at the match, too our fans got right behind us.
“We knew it would be a hard place to come, but we kept our shape really well. The gaffer threw on two subs in the last 15 minutes and seeing our equaliser going in seemed to deflate Dunfermline a bit.”
Manager Willie Aitchison played a crucial role in turning the tide, his decision to bring on Cedric Tuta and Pat Clarke paying off spectacularly as, within seconds of their arrival, Tuta’s backheel unbalanced the home defence and enabled Ross Brown to slam home a left-footed equaliser.
“At 1-0 down we still felt we could come back, and we just kept going,” said goalkeeper Greg Paterson. “We lost 4-1 (to Ayr United) last week, so it was a great way for us to bounce back. We’ve got to kick on from this now.”
Paterson also provided a reminder that not all footballers are overpaid prima donnas as he revealed: “I’m part-time with East Fife and I’m a postman in Dunfermline as well. I was actually out early doing my shift today.”
The home team’s defeat from what appeared to be a comfortable position was galling, but promotion rivals Stenhousemuir also lost to limit the damage.
Not even three dropped points could spoil a significant week for the long-term future of the club, now under the control of supporters group Pars United after an extended period of administration.
Striker Jordan Moore’s 43rd-minute goal looked enough to celebrate the news with a fourth home win in a row, but Moore had earlier missed an easier headed chance, while substitute Ryan Thomson and full-back Ross Millen also wasted
opportunities to put the game beyond East Fife’s reach.
How Dunfermline could have used just one of the 215 goals scored by 1960s icon Charlie Dickson, who sadly passed away on Friday and was warmly remembered at half-time by fellow legends Roy Barry and Jim Leishman.