Raith Rovers are through to the fourth round of the Scottish Cup after a dominant derby display against Dunfermline.
Pars manager James McPake was in little mood to deflect or spin after his side were soundly beaten at East End Park.
Ian Murray, meanwhile, spoke about taking inspiration from all the managers he worked under, including the late great Walter Smith.
Jack Hamilton continued his scoring run, Sam Stanton continued his Fife derby scoring run and Lewis Vaughan added a cheeky third in Rovers’ 3-0 victory.
Courier Sport looks at the talking points.
Raith’s shape-shifting
When the team lines were announced, with Liam Dick absent and no obvious like-for-like replacement, no one really knew how Raith would line up.
The defence even warmed up with Josh Mullin as a full-back before the side kicked off in an unusual 3-6-1 formation.
It was pretty much the shape that ended the match at Queen’s Park, albeit the last 10 minutes of that sensational comeback was much more gung ho.
Murray deployed a back three from the start for the first time this season and it worked a treat.
He has shown he can adapt, either to the players available or to the opposition and he now has a back-three formation up his sleeve.
Bragging rights
After no wins at East End Park for 10 years, Rovers have now recorded two in the space of a few months.
Stanton has netted in both of those, as well as the winner at Stark’s Park in between those.
It was also Raith’s biggest away win in the fixture since 1938 when the Kirkcaldy side recorded a 4-1 win.
Dunfermline’s poor run continues
There have been positives and as tough as Friday’s defeat was to take, they were beaten by a better side on a high.
Raith still have a lot to do to prove they have the staying power for a title challenge.
The Pars, while not your typically newly promoted side, are just that. In saying that, there are enough signs to suggest that they will not be dragged into a relegation battle.
Even on this poor run of one win and one draw in seven, there have been enough good performances to suggest a turnaround can be achieved.
The opportunity to put things right comes again quickly, as Dunfermline host Arbroath on Tuesday night who parted ways with manager Dick Campbell at the weekend.
No more Fife derbies… for now
There are two more Fife derbies to go in the Championship but the first of those isn’t until after the year, again at East End Park.
Friday night was the fourth since July and we could only be at the halfway stage.
Should both sides finish between second and fourth they will possibly meet in a two-legged semi-final or final in the Premiership play-offs, bringing the total number of Fife derbies to eight.
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