Goals from Shaun Byrne, Allan Smith and Craig Dargo consolidated Dunfermline’s second place in League One but that statement fails to tell the story of a bizarre match, which saw both teams forced to call upon their substitute goalkeepers.
A second-half injury to Ryan Scully allowed Ryan Goodfellow the chance to make his Dunfermline debut before Andy Duncan saw red for Airdrie, forcing 18-year-old Jonny Grier into the action.
Grier found himself facing a Jordan Moore penalty but he dived to his left and, with his first touch in senior football, turned the ball wide of the post.
Despite winning the sponsors’ man-of-the-match award, there was no happy ending for Grier who trudged away for a four-hour shift at his local supermarket.
He said. “I start at 6pm and finish at 10pm. I’m studying at uni as well but I manage to fit everything in.”
He added: “When I saw Andy come off, I just wanted to get out and do my best. I just treated it like any other game for the Under-19s.
“I knew I had to try to save the penalty first and then play my normal game from there. A penalty is a lottery and I just guessed right and made the save.”
In contrast, Goodfellow had a much quieter debut for Dunfermline.
Having been with the club for four years, the 20-year-old was pleased to finally get on the pitch.
He said: “I was nervous to start off with but once I got into the game I really enjoyed it. I was happy with my performance and delighted with the clean sheet. We’re delighted to get the three points more than anything.”
Dunfermline found the Diamonds typically dogged opponents in the first half and it took a fine individual goal from Byrne to break the deadlock.
However, the Pars stepped up several gears on the restart to expose holes in the home defence and Smith and Dargo both beat the offside trap to give Grier no chance.
East End Park boss Jim Jefferies said: “We could easily have had six or seven but we’ll settle for this. Even when they went down to 10 men, we had to work hard to break them down but, credit to my players, they managed to work their way through.”