Lawrence Shankland may win the war by collecting a title winner’s medal at the end of the season but it was Kevin Nisbet who won this battle.
Dundee United’s star man was kept quiet by the Dunfermline defenders at East End Park on Saturday, while the talented Nisbet scored the opening goal and finished on the winning side as the Pars triumphed 2-0.
In the build-up to this fixture, there had been talk of a Nisbet versus Shankland match-up, with the Fife club’s captain Paul Paton claiming they had the better of the two players.
Of course, the evidence says otherwise, with Scotland international Shankland having bagged 28 goals for the Tangerines this season compared to Nisbet’s now 23 for his club.
On Saturday, though, it was all about the man in black and white as he headed his team ahead on 26 minutes and then watched teammate Jonathan Afolabi make it 2-0 on the hour.
Nisbet was asked about being compared to the United frontman.
He replied: “I just concentrated on the game in hand.
“For us, it’s a team game.
“It was especially satisfying to beat the team at the top, who are going to win the league.
“For us it was all about bouncing back.
“I am at 23 goals for the season now and 18 in the league.
“Obviously, that’s great for me and now I hope to kick on and get us into the play-offs.
“I think it was 34 for me last season so I have 11 goals to go.
“I think it’s going well and we have 11 matches left so I’m on track.”
It was the Pars’ first home victory over the Tannadice men for almost 13 years and Nisbet revealed that the long winless streak was raised pre-match by boss Stevie Crawford.
He said: “It was mentioned in the team talk but I didn’t know about it until the gaffer said it.
“Obviously, it is great for the fans and the club but for us it was all about getting the three points.
“It has been an up and down season for the supporters so to send them away happy after beating United was all we could do for them.”
Crawford was understandably delighted with Nisbet and his colleagues, the boss saying: “I thought, to a man, we were different class.
“We never felt sorry for ourselves after the Inverness defeat and responded in the right manner.
“This is a step in the right direction for us but let’s not get carried away.
“To beat United here, it has been a long time coming.”
While the Pars were going into the game after a poor loss, the visitors had everything going for them.
They had all but sewn up the Championship title by beating Inverness Caley Thistle in their last match.
They were visiting a ground that has been kind to them in the past. Indeed, they last lost at East End in April, 2007.
They were playing a team that had just been beaten at home to that same ICT side.
They also had 2,490 supporters sitting in the away stand desperate to cheer them on to victory.
It should have been an enjoyable day out in Fife but instead United produced a flat, lacklustre performance that ended in a deserved defeat.
Nisbet, coveted by United of course, made it 1-0 with a fine header on 26 minutes before Afolabi scored a second for the Pars on the hour.
The Tangerines had made one enforced change to their starting line-up, with groin injury victim Calum Butcher replaced by Ian Harkes. The Pars, likewise, made just the one change, with Ethan Ross in for former Tannadice player Ryan Dow.
There was a scare for the visitors when keeper Benjamin Siegrist dropped a cross from man-of-the-match Dom Thomas but the Swiss gathered the loose ball in time.
The Pars had started well and space opened up for striker Nisbet on 10 minutes but he sclaffed his 20-yard shot.
The hosts had another go at United two minutes later when a clever Paton pass played in Afolabi, who pulled his shot across the face of goal and out for a throw-in.
Nisbet then followed Afolabi’s lead when he fired in a low strike that ended up going out for a throw.
United had taken an age to get going but they finally looked dangerous on 20 minutes when Liam Smith burst up the right wing and eventually laid the ball back to Rakish Bingham, who fired not too far over from inside the box.
That was a decent chance but it was the Pars who took a deserved lead on 26 minutes.
A cross was floated into the goalmouth by Kyle Turner, it went over the head of United’s Jamie Robson and Nisbet was there to place a perfect header into the net to make it 1-0.
A brilliant tackle by Paul Watson stopped Nisbet from breaking into the Tangerines’ penalty box on 43 minutes.
United managed their first shot on target just before the break when Shankland got on the end of a Robson cross but could only direct the ball at keeper Owain Fon Williams.
The visitors just had to be much better after the restart but it was Dunfermline who smacked the post through Nisbet on 49 minutes. United’s Louis Appere then fired an angled shot at goal but it was always going wide.
Tannadice boss Robbie Neilson waited just nine minutes of the second period before introducing sub Paul McMullan for Pawlett.
United had a shout for a penalty on 59 minutes when defender Mark Connolly, still up the park after a corner, claimed he was held down as he tried to head Dillon Powers’ cross.
However, play raged on and the Pars went right up to the other end and made it 2-0 on the hour mark.
It was a sweeping move that saw Afolabi tap the ball home from close range after he was picked out by Thomas’s cross from the right. The scorer was booked for over-celebrating.
It was nearly three for the hosts when they burst forward again, beating the offside trap, and Afolabi’s cross had to be swept away for a corner by Smith.
With 10 minutes to go, United – finally looking livelier – moved upfield through McMullan and his cross was headed over by Shankland.
Thomas fired freekick over the visitors’ bar on 84 minutes before Neilson’s afternoon got worse as he was cautioned by referee Graham Beaton.
All in all, it was a day to forget for United and a memorable one for Dunfermline.
