Dunfermline keeper Chris Smith literally ‘took it on the chin’ for the Fife club in Saturday’s victory against Albion.
The strapping keeper met the boot of Binos substitute Sylvano Comvallus himself no shrinking violet which led to Smith sustaining a badly cut chin that required 10 stitches and him being replaced.
Post-match, Smith was sporting enough to shake hands with the Albion forward and admitted he had been the butt of a few Hallowe’en jokes in the home dressing room.
The incident came in the 66th minute, by which time Dunfermline had established a comfortable two-goal lead thanks mainly to a wonderful performance from Willie Gibson.
Smith said the clash with Comvallus was part of being a goalkeeper and spoke of his delight at the result, which maintains Dunfermline’s push for promotion.
“It’s part and parcel of being a goalie sometimes you have to dive in. But I’m just glad the boys got the win today,” he said.
“It wasn’t the greatest game ever but we got the result and I’ll take it on the chin literally.”
He said he bore Comvallus no grudges after the challenge in the Pars penalty box.
“He had to go for it it’s just one of those things in football,” he added. “Goalies need to dive at people’s feet and you never know when feet come in. But the big man came in to see me after the game so there’s no hard feelings.”
He continued, “Willie Gibson does what he did today every day in training he’s a great player and a smart one. When he has the ball it is hard to save it.”
Dunfermline showed their intent in the very first minute when Gibson ran at the home defence and shot at goal, but his strike lacked power. And the dangerous winger laid a beautiful free-kick right on the head of Pat Clarke after 10 minutes, only for the former Dundee man to head wide from almost on the goal line.
However, Pars fans only had to wait a further seven minutes for their side to take the lead and it came from that man Gibson.
The Pars were awarded a direct free-kick after a foul on Gary Mason and Gibson fired home an unstoppable right-foot effort past the helpless Callum Reidford to make it 1-0.
And Gibson almost doubled Dunfermline’s lead again with a free-kick in the 19th minute, but this time it was his team-mate Andy Kirk who got in the way.
Stirling were playing neat football and were almost rewarded for their efforts after a great run by Andy Gibson two minutes later. He crossed to Gordon Smith who beat Smith to an aerial challenge but then saw his shot scrambled off the line by Austin McCann.
However, it was Gibson who again showed his class with another free-kick in the 23rd minute this time his curling shot clicked off the top of the Stirling crossbar.
The Pars were not to be denied, though, and made it 2-0 after 29 minutes. A Gibson corner from the right fell to Mason at the back post and the midfielder fired into the path of Kirk who stabbed the ball home just yards out from the goal-line.
The Kirk-Gibson combination nearly led to a third in the 41st minute. Kirk cleared a Stirling corner from his own penalty box to Gibson who ran deep into the Binos half and passed to Clarke, only for the striker’s shot to be tipped over the bar by Reidford.
Dunfermline restarted the second half in the same style and could have made it three with a header from Chris Higgins and then a shot from David Graham.
Play stopped for the injury to Smith and Binos substitute Comvallus was subsequently booed by the home crowd for the remainder of the game. However, the player change didn’t affect Dunfermline and the game was effectively ended after 80 minutes when Calum Woods cut inside the Stirling box and fired home a low, left-foot shot.
Pars boss Jim McIntyre said, “I thought we created good opportunities and tried to move the ball quickly. We got slack at times but in the main we are very pleased that is another three goals and another home victory.”
The visitors manager, John O’Neill, said, “I think that whoever finishes above Dunfermline will win the league.”
Photo David Wardle.