James McPake praises ‘character’ of Dunfermline after triple-sub inspires Pars comeback

By Craig Cairns

December 24 2022, 5:40pm

McPake is delighted that O'Hara has stepped up his recovery. Image: Craig Brown.

Dunfermline manager James McPake was delighted with how his side responded to going a goal down at New Central Park.

The Pars struggled at times at New Central Park and were 1-0 down to a second-half Alfredo Agyeman strike before they kicked into gear.

Lewis McCann, making his return from injury had been brought on just before the goal and his manager responded by gutting his bench.

Nikolay Todorov, Chris Hamilton and Kyle Macdonald all came on and all played a part in the comeback.

Tam O’Ware scored an own goal for the equaliser before McCann’s late header gave the Pars a 2-1 win.

Substitute Lewis McCann won the game for the Pars. Image: SNS.

Character

“You don’t go on the run that you are on without character,” said McPake. “They showed that.

“They have been down in games, they have been up in games and pegged back and still managed to react in them.

“There is plenty of character, spirit, commitment, whatever, in abundance in that dressing room.

“You need it in any dressing room and in our position at the minute we need that, it shone through.”

The Pars manager conceded that it wasn’t his side’s best performance of the season.

Though those wins when below par performance-wise could be vital for any title run-in.

“In the end you get three points at a very tough place to come,” added McPake.

“In the first half of the season we have lost one game.”

Super subs

The match was won due to the superior quality of the Dunfermline bench.

John Potter tried to stem the flow of attacks by bringing on Dougie Hill and moving to a back three but Dunfermline’s quality came through in the end.

“The subs made a huge impact and I’m delighted for Lewis,” added the Pars boss.

“He has been great and he was excellent through the week.

McPake was pleased with the character of his side. Image: SNS.

“You hear the subs on the bench willing their team-mates on before they came on – that’s team spirit, that’s teamwork that’s whatever you want to call it, but it is working.

“First half was what we kind of expected. It wasn’t a great game – from both teams, I would say.

“They are now a group of players in there that whoever plays, we know can win a game.

“We also know that the ones that coming on can come on if needed to affect the game. That is pleasing.”