Dunfermline can sew up the League One title over the next week after a 2-2 draw at the Falkirk Stadium.
If the Bairns drop points to Montrose on Tuesday night, a win for the Pars that evening at Peterhead will confirm first place.
A win for the top two on Tuesday night means a win for James McPake’s men next Saturday at home to Queen of the South will spark title celebrations.
At one point it looked like the Bairns had done enough to reduce the gap and delay the inevitable through first-half goals from Aidan Nisbett and Rumarn Burrell.
Falkirk didn’t hold on to that lead for long and by half-time Craig Wighton and Lewis McCann had Dunfermline level.
🎥 Watch both the #DAFC goals from yesterday's 2-2 draw with Falkirk.
Full Highlights Later! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/B2VtHDubMe
— Dunfermline Athletic (@officialdafc) April 8, 2023
Courier Sport looks at some talking points from Dunfermline’s 2-2 draw at the Falkirk Stadium.
Getting the better of Falkirk
The Pars have kept Falkirk at arm’s length all season and this has a lot to do with the head-to-heads between the sides.
The 1-1 draw in the first clash left Falkirk in sixth in League One after seven matches, four behind Dunfermline.
In November, Craig Wighton’s winner at the Falkirk Stadium put the Pars seven points ahead after 14 matches played, with the Bairns now in third behind Edinburgh.
John McGlynn’s side were second and on a 12-match unbeaten run in League One – between matches versus the Pars – when they pitched up at East End Park last month and lost 2-0.
Goals from Rhys Breen and Matty Todd extended the lead to 11 points, effectively winning the league, and that lead was preserved on Saturday through a Lewis McCann-inspired comeback.
Character
Falkirk are a good side and they proved that with Saturday’s first-half showing, lining up in a slightly more attacking shape than usual.
They were deservedly 2-0 ahead with 33 minutes gone but by half-time they couldn’t have had many complaints if they’d gone in 3-2 behind.
After McCann set up Wighton and then scored the equaliser, Todd didn’t connect well enough with a close-range header that bounced wide.
The Pars have lost just one league game all season and, to pick just a few examples, have come back from 2-0 down twice to draw 2-2 and took all three points away to Kelty Hearts after going behind on the hour mark.
Most impressively, they came back from 3-0 down to win at Airdrie, a match that will go down as indicative of how they become League One champions.
Fan backing
This is why the fans stayed behind after going behind – and responded with chants of “We’re going to win the league”.
As pointed out by the manager after the match, the players have built up enough goodwill to get their support when they concede first.
🏁Pars fans on the final whistle pic.twitter.com/IubFWhXWEe
— Craig Cairns (@craigcairns001) April 8, 2023
“I said to Dave [Mackay] when we went a goal down, it’s a test for us now and we’ll see how we react,” said McPake. “Particularly with the big crowd.
“The players have got plenty credit when it comes to the fans now.
“That’s 31 league games, they’ve given everything for this club and those fans.”
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