Dunfermline claimed the derby honours as a terrific two-goal win over Raith Rovers sent them flying up the Championship table.
The visitors, who shot up from ninth spot to sixth place with this result at Stark’s Park, took a deserved lead on 11 minutes when Nicky Clark headed home a corner.
Rovers then saw plenty of the ball and had chances of their own but they were hit once again on 78 minutes when Lee Ashcroft squeezed home a second goal for the Pars.
Raith had sprung a surprise just an hour or so before kick-off by announcing the singing of frontman Ryan Stevenson from Dumbarton.
That made it a double deal for the home team over the New Year, with Ryan Hardie also joining them from Rangers on loan until the end of the season.
Both players were listed as substitutes by their new club.
There was no sign of Dunfermline’s festive period new recruit, former player Callum Morris, who moved back to East End Park after being released by Aberdeen.
The first real chance fell to the visitors on four minutes when John Herron hooked a shot goalwards that was saved by keeper Kevin Cuthbert.
Dunfermline’s Paul McMullan won a foul at the edge of the Raith box when he was fouled by Kevin McHattie. The freekick was drilled in by Kallum Higginbotham and Cuthbert produced a great save.
The East End Park men, roared on by 2,845 fans, had made an excellent start and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 11 minutes.
After Cuthbert had made another fine stop – this time from Ashcroft’s header – the breakthrough came from the corner.
It was floated over from the left by Higginbotham and, with the Rovers defence standing still, the unmarked Clark pounced to nod down and into the net.
The hosts almost got one back on 18 minutes when Chris Johnston raced in from the right and stabbed the ball at Pars goalie Sean Murdoch, who somehow managed to push the ball over the bar for a corner.
McHattie then threatened with a cross-turned-shot for Raith that was deflected just wide on 21 minutes.
Murdoch easily gathered a tame effort from Johnston before the home player was fouled just outside the box for a freekick that came to nothing.
Rovers were trying to get something out of their setpieces and they came close when Jordan Thompson sent one over from the right that caused havoc in the Dunfermline box.
The hosts then had the ball in the net on 41 minutes through Rudi Skacel’s tap-in but the flag had gone up for offside and it was never a goer.
Raith had ended the first period well and came out fighting after the restart, winning a series of corners that, sadly for them, came to nothing.
Clever work from McMullan pulled the Pars up the park on 51 minutes but after going on a mazy run he couldn’t find a teammate with his cutback.
Five minutes later, Clark missed an absolute sitter for the visitors when the ball broke to him right in front of Cuthbert following a backheel by Higginbotham. The flag stayed down and Clark had plenty of time but he somehow fired straight at the Raith goalie.
The Stark’s Park side brought on new man Hardie for the ineffectual Skacel on 57 minutes.
The Pars had both Michael Moffat and Jason Talbot booked before they had a great chance to make it 2-0 on 69 minutes only for Clark to blast the ball right across goal.
The Kirkcaldy men made a double switch, bringing on Stevenson and Mark Stewart for Johnston and McMullan, as they went in desperate search of an equaliser.
Murdoch tipped a low shot from Clark around the post before the visitors got their second goal.
With 78 minutes on the clock, Ashcroft was the hero as he squeezed the ball over the Raith line.
A corner from Higgginbotham had been played back to him out right and he blasted the ball back into the goalmouth.
Ashcroft connected with it and the ball went just inside the post as Cuthbert tried in vain to keep it out.
Dunfermline sub Joe Cardle had a shot saved by Cuthbert in stoppage-time as the visitors saw the game out with little trouble.
Attendance: 5,899.
Raith Rovers: Cuthbert, Thomson, McHattie, Callachan, M’Voto, Johnston (Stewart 71), B. Barr, Davidson, Skacel (Hardie 57), McManus (Stevenson 71), Thompson. Subs not used: Lennox, Coustrain, Roberts, C. Barr.
Dunfermline: Murdoch, Talbot, Ashcroft, Fordyce, Herron, Geggan, Wedderburn, Clark (Reilly 90+1), Moffat, McMullan (Cardle 89), Higginbotham. Subs not used: Hutton, Williamson, Paton, Duthie, El Alagui.
Referee: Don Robertson.
