Dunfermline Athletic suffered their first League 1 loss of the season at the hands of Montrose at Links Park Stadium.
Matthew Wright’s scored a double from the bench – his first midway through the second half and two minutes after coming on as a substitute.
He sealed the game for Stewart Petrie’s side late on.
Courier Sport rounds up the main action from the 2-0 win.
Key moments
Montrose came at the visitors at the start and their pressure was almost rewarded.
Deniz Mehmet came very far out his box and tried to slide for a second ball.
The keeper got nowhere near it and Chris Hamilton’s attempt to foul didn’t stop Paul Watson’s long-range effort but it drew a booking regardless.
Rhys Breen had made his way back and prevented an opening goal.
Dunfermline came back into it and were building well through the middle, mainly through Chris Mochrie.
He was at the end of most of their opportunities as well – forcing a save out of St Johnstone loanee Ross Sinclair around the half hour and another one just before the break.
Seconds into the second half Mochrie again forced a save from Sinclair’s foot, this time via a deflected effort.
Josh Edwards then should have done better from Aaron Comrie’s cross and the Pars’ failure to take any of their chances came back to bite them when Wright scored from Craig Johnston’s lay-off.
With around 10 minutes to go Pars sub Nikolay Todorov squandered an opportunity at the back post before Wright’s second.
Montrose’s star man: Matthew Wright
Until the dying stages of the match, this was going to go to Ross Sinclair – who saved his best stop for 2-0 from Joe Chalmers.
He saved three times from Mochrie and gave Montrose the platform to win the game.
However, you cannot overlook the man who came off the bench to net a double and inflict the first league defeat McPake’s side have suffered this season.
Wright took both his finished well to send the Montrose support home happy.
Dunfermline’s star man: Chris Mochrie
It was a bit of a slog at times for Dunfermline in the opening 45 minutes but Mochrie still shone.
He linked well with Craig Wighton and Matty Todd, and carried the ball upfield multiple times, but he wasn’t helped out often enough by the rest of his team.
His intelligence to read the game and to pick a pass is a level above, as is his ability to keep the ball just out of reach of desperate opponents.
Managers under the microscope
James McPake made one change from the midweek victory over Clyde, dropping Todorov to the bench.
Hamilton came into midfield meaning a return to the formation which worked so well away at Alloa Athletic.
One change for Dunfermline. Nikolay Todorov drops to the bench and Chris Hamilton comes in. It means a return the the set-up away at Alloa but with Craig Wighton in attack. pic.twitter.com/J0GzND4ane
— Craig Cairns (@craigcairns001) October 22, 2022
Stewart Petrie made four changes from the side that drew the previous week at home to Falkirk.
Kerr Waddell shook off a knock but Rory McAllister did not recover from his.
It meant 3-4-3 versus 3-4-3 and a better start to the match for Montrose than Dunfermline.
In the second half Petrie made a double-substitution and within minutes one of those had curled the ball beyond Mehmet to open the scoring.
McPake had already brought on Nikolay Todorov and switched to a front two and later brought on Robbie Mahon in a switch to a back four.
Man in the middle
Referee Iain Sneddon had to dish out two early bookings to Dunfermline players and drew the ire of the home support for some of his decisions.
The Pars bench was also incensed that no protection was given to Mochrie after multiple fouls on the creator.
The real story with the officials was Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross – running the line for Sneddon, and on the stand side no less.
Douglas Ross running the line at Links Park today. The first sighting of him drew boos and a shout of "Ya Tory b******!".
— Craig Cairns (@craigcairns001) October 22, 2022
He was predictably in for bouts of abuse during the afternoon.
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