As hard as it was to take on Saturday, Lewis McCann admits there is nothing Dunfermline Athletic can do other than aim to move on quickly from defeat to Falkirk.
The Pars succumbed to a 2-1 loss to their bitter rivals after Chris Hamilton’s own goal midway through the first-half and a Calvin Miller strike 11 minutes after the interval.
McCann gave the Fifers hope with a superb header from a David Wotherspoon free-kick with 18 minutes left to play.
But, with the Bairns’ on-loan Dundee defender Luke Graham clearing goal-bound headers from Hamilton and Sam Young, a late onslaught in search of a dramatic leveller failed to pay off.
Such bitter disappointment in a derby can linger, but Dunfermline must recover quickly as they prepare to play host to Livingston on Tuesday night.
“We’re gutted, because the goals we let in were soft,” said McCann.
“I felt we had a really good ending to the game. We made a good push, we had two goal-line clearances (go against us).
“It’s a tough one to take, obviously, with the nature of the game as well. You never want to be losing to your rivals.
The Pars to focus on next game
“But we just have to put it behind us and move on. There’s a game in a couple of days, so we need to focus on that now.
“Hopefully we get three points from there and another good performance. Then we’ll try to kick on.”
Dunfermline went into the game having suffered just two defeats from their previous eight matches, though two of the three victories had come in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Their record over their previous five league games matched that of Raith Rovers and Ayr United, and was better than that of Airdrie and Hamilton Accies.
By all measures, improvements have been made since Dunfermline’s poor start to the season.
But, despite pushing their rivals right to the end, Falkirk proved the Pars still have some way to go.
“Obviously they (Falkirk) have had a brilliant start to the season,” added McCann. “Everyone can see that, and I thought we matched them.
“It was a good thing to score and we were at that point pushing on. We saw it gave the boys a lift and everything.
“On a personal note, it’s good to score. On a team note, obviously, we still didn’t get anything from the game so that’s tough to take.”
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