Dunfermline made hard work of their 3-2 victory over Arbroath.
By half-time, the tie was effectively over after goals from Ewan Otoo, Paul Allan and Chris Kane.
Scott Stewart’s double after the break meant the Pars spent a large chunk of the second half with a precarious lead.
The win lifts them into fourth in the Scottish Championship, though there is still work to do to ensure survival before Dunfermline can look towards the promotion play-offs.
Courier Sport looks at the talking points from Saturday’s game at Gayfield.
Manager’s anger
James McPake was not a happy man following the win, slamming the players for their second-half showing.
It made sense in the context of watching his team fail to do “the basics” while almost throwing away a three-goal lead.
And the Scottish Championship is still very tight from the fourth position the Pars occupy down to the other play-off positions.
As we have seen from Dunfermline’s season, perhaps more than any other Championship club, fortunes can change in the space of a few short weeks.
The Pars are nine points above Inverness in ninth with 15 points left to play for.
Right now, they have a good chance of sneaking fourth – but a few defeats over the next few weeks would put a completely different complexion on things.
Hitting form
That said, they may just be hitting form at an optimal time.
After hanging on for their third consecutive win for the first time this season on Saturday, they could just be coming into form at the right time.
Teams just behind them, like Morton and Airdrie, have games in hand and there will be a few six-pointers between now and the end of the season.
One standout tie is the trip to face the Diamonds a week on Saturday which could go a long way to deciding the play-off positions.
Experience key
Injuries have robbed Dunfermline of a lot of talent for large parts of the season but have also left them lacking experience at times.
The return of Kyle Benedictus has correlated with the current run of form. His know-how and marshalling of others was a huge part of last season’s success.
That’s three wins in the four matches since he returned to the starting XI.
Chris Kane provides a similar level of maturity at the other end, bringing out the best in those around him.
Too little, too late from Arbroath?
Too often this season, Arbroath have shown what they are capable of when the game is already beyond them.
There have been times they have salvaged something, most notably in the 3-2 win over Raith Rovers that had a huge impact on the title race.
Jim McIntyre’s men were excellent after the break again on Saturday, and Scott Stewart came close to converting a third chance for his hat-trick in the dying minutes.
Arbroath have two games in a week to save their season: hosting Airdrie before a do-or-die trip to ninth-placed Inverness.
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