James McPake was delighted with the contribution of his young players after victory in the SPFL Trust Trophy third round.
Goals from Nikolay Todorov and 16-year-old Taylor Sutherland were enough for the Pars to take their place in the next round.
Sutherland was handed his senior debut – along with defender Sam Young – and scored with just over a minute on the clock.
Celtic B’s Johnny Kenny finished well not long before half-time to set up what was at certain times a nervy second half for Dunfermline.
Tough opposition
“I thought they were excellent, credit to Darren [O’Dea] and Stephen [McManus],” said the Dunfermline manager.
“They’re a well-drilled team with really good players.
“We had three 16-year-olds on the pitch had a wee mixture. I thought the three boys were excellent.
“It was a great goal from Taylor, great movement.
“You wouldn’t think at that age, the way he moves his man one way then goes across and it’s a great finish.
“Sam Young playing in the middle of a back three which is normally the job for people for me with no legs and you needed cover on the sides.
“But we were comfy with Sam in there because he can pick a pass both ways and he give you the balance on each side.
Praise for Tod
Andrew Tod made a couple of substitute appearance earlier in the season in the Premier Sports Cup and was handed his full debut for this one.
He also drew praise from his manager for going up against one of Celtic B’s top performers Daniel Kelly.
“I thought we played pretty well in the game, we had good possession and we had good chances,” said McPake.
“Then wee Toddy, a great experience for him, playing in that [No 10] role, which is really tough.
“You come up against a CDM or a No 6, that role, the deep-lying midfielder, he is the best about at that age that boy for Celtic, I’ve seen him a few times. He’s so assured.
“It took Andrew a wee while to get used to that.
“But I’ve asked senior players and players that have been internationals to do jobs like that and they’ve struggled.
“That’s nothing for Andrew to worry about because after 15-20 minutes he got the hang of it.”
The Pars will now travel up to Gayfield next month to take on Arbroath in the fourth round of the competition.
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