James McPake has dedicated Dunfermline’s derby triumph to the fans following the pain of last season.
The Pars slumped to five straight defeats to Raith Rovers in 2023/24 and had tasted victory just once in the previous 13 meetings with their bitter rivals.
But second-half goals from Ewan Otoo and David Wotherspoon ensured it was the East End Park men who earned the local bragging rights.
The 2-0 win and deserved three points took the Fifers off the bottom of the Championship and sent their neighbours down into tenth spot.
“I enjoyed it, I thought we started really well,” said McPake. “With a big crowd you need to get after teams.
“We had to give the fans something to get behind us and I thought we played on the front foot.
“I’m over the moon. It’s three points, it’s our work done for the weekend and it’s pleasing for the fans.
“We lost five games to them last year and everyone probably expected the same in this one.
“But the players stayed patient and that is the big thing for me in why we were so comfortable in the game.
“In the second-half the intent was there and we moved it sharper and asked more questions of them.”
Wotherspoon praised
Otoo’s opener just six minutes after the break finally made the most of Raith being down to ten men since the 16th minute following Euan Murray’s red card.
But it was David Wotherspoon’s magnificent strike with just ten minutes remaining that finally killed off Rovers’ hopes of taking something from the game.
“He’s a key player,” added McPake of Wotherspoon, who had been left out of the starting line-up in the last two outings.
“I tried to bring him here last year and obviously it didn’t happen, and I tried to get him here for a while this summer as well.
“That’s the quality he’s got. I’ve seen it, I played beside him. I’ve seen it for years as a player and we see it every day in training.
“And it was a key goal, because it took the sting out of the game. We were then able to fully relax and move the ball about under no pressure, really.
“Raith were always going to throw everything at us but when the second goal goes in you’re pretty comfortable in the game.
“It’s a great finish but in terms of David it’s something you see quite a lot.
“He’s been out of the team but he’s not thrown the toys out the pram.
“He has done what you would expect a really good pro to do – he’s worked really hard and you see the difference he can make in a game.
“He’s done that at the highest level in Scottish football all his career.”
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