James McPake was critical of his Dunfermline side after they crashed to a fifth straight Fife derby defeat.
Raith Rovers made history with the 2-0 victory, extending their winning run in the fixture to the longest ever.
But for Dunfermline it was a difficult afternoon, despite dominating for large spells.
The Pars opened strongly and Sam Stanton’s opener came against the run of play.
When Dylan Easton doubled the hosts’ lead with 13 minutes remaining there was no way back for the East End Park visitors.
McPake said: “You can have as much of the ball as you want, you can have as many corners as you want, it doesn’t matter a jot.
“Ultimately, you’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net, and that’s what Raith have done.
“The team that deserved to win the game today won it. Raith deserved to win the game, they scored two goals.
“It’s sore alright, any game you lose is.
McPake: ‘Desperate to win the game’
“When you’re here with a big travelling support, you’re desperate to win the game. But they deserved to win the game.
“You can see the reason they’re second in the league. They don’t need to have the most of the ball, they don’t need to have most of the chances.
“But at the top end of the pitch, they make sure, when those chances come around, they take them.
“They did that today.”
McPake, whose side are seventh but just a point above second bottom spot, felt his side should have coped better at both Raith goals.
Stanton was allowed to head after Deniz Mehmet had palmed out Lewis Vaughan’s free-kick seven minutes before the break.
And they switched off when Vaughan took a quick set-piece that led to Easton’s clincher.
McPaked added: “The goalkeeper’s got to be dealing with it better. It’s a poor save, we don’t follow it in, Stanton’s in acres just to knock it in, if I remember correct.
“If you parry the ball back out into the middle of your box, then you’re going to concede a goal.
McPake: ‘DAFC were naive’
“At the second goal, we allow them to take a quick free-kick. And, all of a sudden, you give it to player like Dylan Easton, and he’s going to find the net.
“We’re naive in that one, and just a poor individual mistake in the first one.”
There was one positive for Dunfermline with the return of skipper Kyle Benedictus, who lasted 90 minutes unscathed in his first start for four months following two thigh injuries.
McPake commented: ”I thought he was excellent. He really was. It’s not easy for him coming back here.
“I think he cruised through the game, for everything he had to do.
“It’s great having him back because he is our leader, and you could hear how vocal he was on the pitch.
“He’s hurting in there, of course he is. He wanted to come back to this club, where he played for so long – he had a great time here – and win for us.
“He’s in there, he’s annoyed, he’s frustrated. But I was pleased with his performance – not too many more.”
