James McPake has spoken of his pride in his players after Dunfermline Athletic earned a first win in 10 games with a determined 3-1 victory away to Partick Thistle.
The Pars had to come from behind following Brian Graham’s first-half opener at Firhill.
But a quick-fire leveller from Malachi Fagan-Walcott restored parity before goals from Matty Todd and Xavier Benjamin after the break.
It was the first time the Fifers had tasted victory since December 9 and it came as a welcome relief to McPake and his side.
He said: “It’s been a while, certainly.
“I’m delighted for that young group. For most of us, it’s probably one of the longest runs without a win. I can never remember that, in terms of being a player or a manager as well.
“You worry how a young group will take that when it’s not happening [for them].
“In that run, there’s been some decent performances, there has.
“But you can’t keep going in there and saying that to them when the narrative is no wins in nine.
“So, we knew we had to win a game, just to give them that feeling again.
Character and desire
“I’m proud they’ve got that and we’ll move on to Tuesday [against Inverness Caley Thistle] now.”
Having taken so many knocks in recent weeks, McPake has confessed he was worried for his team after a solid opening was ruined when Graham nodded Thistle in front in the 30th minute.
He added: “I’ll be brutally honest, when you go a goal down here and you’re on the run you’re on you do fear the worst.
“When the first goal goes in here you’re thinking, ‘is it going to be another long night?’.
“But they showed real character and real desire to get back in the game.
“I think we deserved to win it in the end with chances created.”
Meanwhile, McPake was full of praise for Todd, who clipped in a superb second to swing the game in Dunfermline’s direction before Benjamin’s headed clincher.
It was the midfielder’s first game in two months following a hamstring strain in an injury-ravaged campaign.
McPake went on: “After about a minute and a half Matty showed what we’ve been missing.
“You see that intent right away. I think he gives the rest of the team a boost when they see that as well.
Composure
“Matty has scored really important goals for me at this club.
“That one, talk about not just the importance of it but just how good a goal it was.
“It was the touch, he was facing away and then his composure to dink it over the goalkeeper.
“He’s a goal threat, he’s energetic and he can work defensively.
“The reason he’s probably still at Dunfermline without much chat about him is because he’s been injured – because he’s a player that can go and have a fantastic career in football.”
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