Dunfermline snatched a precious point with a late equaliser at East End Park which took them to within one of first division leaders Raith Rovers.
Falkirk looked to have secured a win that would have thrust them right into the mix at the top of the table after Tam Scobbie gave them a 76th-minute lead. But Pars’ top scorer Andy Kirk had the last word with an 86th-minute equaliser in a pulsating derby.
The two managers had different takes on whether the scoreline reflected the play.
Dunfermline boss Jim McIntyre said, “I thought a draw was a fair result. They started better but we showed fight and character to come back.”
However his opposite number Steven Pressley saw things differently, saying, “I thought it was a one-sided game that we dominated from start to finish. Sometimes in football you don’t get what you deserve and I don’t fell we got what we deserved tonight.”
McIntyre made no changes to the team that beat Cowdenbeath 4-0 at the weekend. Falkirk’s Mark Stewart was rewarded for his winning goal as a substitute against Morton with a starting place.
Unsurprisingly, for a derby of such importance, there was precious little passing football in the early stages.
Falkirk were the first to break in seven minutes when Jack Compton showed some right wing trickery and tried to feed the ball into the path of Kieron Duffie, who had charged beyond him into the box. His pass was just too heavy and it ran through to keeper Chris Smith.
Next, a long cross-field ball from Ryan Flynn was flung into the box and was misjudged by Alex Keddie underneath it. It fell to Compton, whose shot flew into the side netting.MomentumThe Bairns built momentum and Kevin Rutkiewicz conceded a corner under pressure from Stewart on nine minutes. Compton hit an out-swinger towards the back post where Scobbie helped it back to Brian McLean. The defender couldn’t have caught his volley any sweeter and it smacked off Smith’s left-hand post.
Pressley was forced to make an early substitution, with the influential Compton hobbling off and replaced by Kallum Higginbotham.
Flynn was the next Falkirk man to have a shot on goal but Smith comfortably dealt with his left-footer from just inside the box.
Pars chances were scarce at this stage but on 17 minutes Liam Buchanan came close with a glancing header from a Joe Cardle corner.
Falkirk were soon back on the attack, and Callum Woods scrambled the ball clear after Carl Finnigan had headed a Higginbotham free-kick into the danger area.
There was encouragement for Pars fans five minutes before the break when they produced their most sustained spell of pressure of the half. Kirk drove through the middle and shot at Robert Olejnik, then seconds later the Austrian keeper fumbled a Rutkiewicz shot that had looped up off a defensive block before it was eventually cleared.
Straight after the restart, Dunfermline nearly broke the deadlock. There looked to be no danger when a long ball was punted out of defence but McLean let it bounce and Buchanan nipped in to steal it. The transfer window signing from Partick Thistle lobbed Olejnik but his effort landed on the roof of the net.
Finnigan collapsed in the box after tussling with Keddie on 49 minutes but referee Anthony Law waved away his penalty appeal.
A drilled Stewart Murdoch cross from the right flashed across goal and was well taken low by Smith, who saw it late.
McIntyre replaced Cardle with Steven McDougall 10 minutes into the second half.
On 64 minutes, a Kirk 22-yarder had Olejnik at full stretch to his right but just missed the post.
Pars pressure mounted and Nick Phinn wasted a good set-piece opportunity at the corner of the box by over-hitting his free-kick to the far post. They should have gone ahead on 75 minutes when Scobbie slipped on the 18-yard line. Graham was first to shoot but his effort was blocked, as was Buchanan’s that followed.
McIntyre’s men were made to pay for failing to find the net when the Bairns took the lead three minutes later. A Pedro Moutinho free-kick from around 30 yards out was spilled by Smith and Scobbie lashed the ball home from close after a scramble.
Their one-goal advantage only lasted until the 86th minute when Kirk buried a low right-foot shot from 12 yards into the keeper’s left hand corner.
In the last minute, a McLean header was tipped over the bar.
Olejnik, Graham, Woods and Buchanan were booked in a feisty encounter.
Photo David Wardle.