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James McPake singles out captain’s performance in Dunfermline’s draw with Airdrie

The Pars boss revealed his players had been gutted to have to settle for a 1-1 stalemate.

Dunfermline Athletic FC boss James McPake.
Dunfermline boss James McPake. Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

James McPake has hailed a ‘captain’s performance’ from Chris Hamilton after Dunfermline were ‘devastated’ not to take all three points against Airdrie.

Chris Kane’s 28th-minute penalty put the Pars in the ascendancy against the Diamonds.

Victory would have opened up a three-point gap between the Fifers and the Championship’s bottom team below them.

Chris Kane scores a penalty for Dunfermline Athletic.
Chris Kane puts Dunfermline ahead from the spot. Image: Ross MacDonald / SNS Group.

However, Mason Hancock’s header midway through the second-half left the East End Park men to rue a third game without a win since the Fife derby triumph over Raith Rovers.

“Looking at my group of players in there, they’re devastated that we never got the win,” said McPake after the full-time whistle.

“That’s a bonus for me because ultimately we came down here to get three points.

“It’s not the result we wanted.

“It’s a point. I must reiterate it’s not the result we wanted coming here, but it’s something to build on.

‘A performance to build on’

“It’s a better performance, and defensively as a team it’s a better performance, in my opinion, than what we’ve shown probably in the last three or four weeks.

“Again, it’s a performance to build on. That’s the important thing.”

Dunfermline had to withstand a lot of long balls and set-pieces during a hard-fought 90 minutes.

And Hamilton, who was hauled off at the break seven days previously in the 2-1 defeat to Queen’s Park, was at the heart of the Pars’ resistance playing as a centre-half.

“He was excellent,” said McPake of Hamilton. “And that was a player who came off last week at half-time.

Pars striker Chris Kane is taken off with a knee injury against Airdrie.
Chris Kane is taken off with a knee injury against Airdrie. Image: Ross MacDonald / SNS Group.

“I have no qualms in putting Hammy in there.

“He doesn’t care where he plays. He just loves playing for this club. It was a captain’s performance.

“He was excellent, and closely followed by Chris Kane and Craig Wighton today.

“I thought those two caused them all sorts of problems. Had we got that second goal then that’s the game done in my opinion.

“We would have been comfortable in that.”

Chris Kane injury

Meanwhile, McPake is hopeful goal-scorer Kane will recover fully after being substituted with 14 minutes remaining with a knee issue.

“I think he’s okay,” he added. “He got a kind of jolt through his knee when he landed awkwardly.

“Again, I can get why he worries about that knee in particular.

“But he’s okay. I hope he is as well because I think we’re now seeing a difference in Chris Kane and what he’s offering.”

Meanwhile, with Dapo Mebude making his debut as a late substitute, McPake said Lewis McCann missed the trip to Airdrie with a minor calf issue.

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