Dunfermline 0 Kilmarnock 0
Saturday, 26th Feb 2022cinch Championship: Dan Pybus and Matthew Todd start in place of Aaron Comrie and Reece Cole.
Disappointment with one point from this match despite Dunfermline having the best chance of the game when Efe Ambrose, on his home debut, hit the crossbar in the second half.
Dunfermline returned to East End Park for the first time since 22nd January and it turned out to be for back to back matches against Kilmarnock. The wet and stormy weather had caused the postponement of the match against Partick Thistle the previous weekend, while Kilmarnock defeated Raith Rovers 3-0. Killie came from behind to defeat Dunfermline 2-1 when the sides met two weeks prior but with the developing gap of six, seven and eight points between the Pars on 23 points and the three teams above them, a home win was very necessary.
Manager John Hughes made two changes. Aaron Comrie served a one match suspension for his red card at Rugby Park, Reece Cole dropped to the bench and into the team came Matthew Todd and Dan Pybus.
For Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes made one change from his team that defeated the Rovers - Jack Sanders came in for Lee Hodson.
The teams changed ends before Graham Dorrans and Ryan Dow got the match underway with Dunfermline attacking the goal at the McCathie Stand end. Coll Donaldson headed away the first danger from a fifth minute free kick sent in from the right by Chris Burke.
Former Pars loanee Fraser Murray was next to try a shot but his eighth minute effort was blocked by Pybus. Stephen McGinn was next to shoot an attempt from 30 yards out well off target.
Three minutes later Edwards, Dow and Dorrans linked to send a neat pass into the left side of the visitors’ box but keeper Zach Hemmings was out swiftly to smother the loose ball. Sanders collected the first yellow card of the game for pulling back Dow on the left but the 17th minute free kick did not change anything.
Ambrose conceded a 19th minute corner and allow Kilmarnock had three phases at it with Ambrose clearing twice they eventually fired the ball way over the top. Ambrose was shown yellow for impeding Murray on the left edge of the box and when he delivered from the free kick keeper Jakub Stolarczyk cleared.
Kilmarnock had looked the more likely and they forced a second corner with ten minutes to half time. Burke’s cross was cleared and Stolarczyk gathered the returned ball. Then Dunfermline earned their first corner of the afternoon from a Steven Lawless free kick swung in from the right. The 38th minute setpiece ended when Joe Chalmers was deemed to foul Calum Waters as he challenged for the ball on the right side of the penalty box.
The home side tried hard to make the breakthrough and a ball from Edwards to Dow resulted in Lawless receiving a pass that allowed him to tee up McCann but the striker’s shot was blocked. Dorrans also had an opportunists shot from distance that was shut out by Euan Murray.
Killie probably had the better of the first half and the home side would hope to do better in the second.
Half time: Dunfermline 0 Kilmarnock 0
Maybe it was the news that Queen of the South were one up at Somerset Park but the Fifers started the second half looking a bit more determined and Dorrans had a stinger of an effort blocked on the edge of the Killie box.
The visitors soon forced a corner that Stokes headed into the hands of Stolarczyk. Kevin O’Hara became the first Dunfermline sub of the match replacing Lewis McCann in 58 minutes. A McGinn foul on Dorrans handed Lawless the chance to pump the ball into the Killie box but Murray’s head got the first connection and the defence scrambled a clearance.
At the other end a cross field run by Naismith set up Fraser Murray for a pop at goal but from an angle on the left he blasted his effort over the bar. It was the midpoint of the second 45 when Kilmarnock made a double substitution introducing Dylan Tait and a Daniel McKay for Stephen McGinn and Chris Burke. Immediately Naismith had an opportunity to shoot from the right apex of the box but Stolarcyzk plucked the ball out of the air.
There was a warm welcome then as Dom Thomas came on to replace Graham Dorrans, the former Killie man’s come back from knee surgery and his first appearance since 26th November.
Thomas’ introduction injected a new energy into Dunfermline and it was his 82nd minute free kick that created the closest thing to breaking the stalemate. When the ball reached Ambrose in the centre of the Kilmarnock box the big defender saw his shot kept out by the crossbar.
Four minutes later with Kyle Lafferty on the deck in the centre circle Ambrose pushed up and when the ball reached Dow his cut back for Thomas was promising but he pulled his shot wide right. Oli Shaw replaced Lafferty with three minutes remaining but the Fifers still has a sniff for the winner.
Thomas had another shot that was blocked and mopped up by the keeper and Stolarczyk again looked comfortable in holding a Declan Glass effort in the first minute of time added on.
It would finish without a goal and the point enough to keep the Pars ahead of Queen of the South. Dunfermline thwarted Kilmarnock’s efforts to win three games in a row but with both sides seeking three points, a point a piece was probably the right result.
Queen of the South scored the only goal of the afternoon in the cinch Championship and the draws elsewhere confirmation of just how tight this league is.
SUBS NOT USED: Lewis Martin, Rhys Breen, Paul Allan, Reece Cole, Miller Fenton, Owain Fôn Williams (GK)
YELLOW CARD: Ambrose (22), McCann (29), Donaldson (59)
KILMARNOCK: Zach Hemming: Jack Sanders (Jason Naismith HT), Chris Stokes (c), Euan Murray, Calum Waters: Stephen McGinn (Dylan Tait 68): Chris Burke (Daniel MacKay 68), Blair Alston (Declan Glass 76), Rory McKenzie, Fraser Murray: Kyle Lafferty (Oli Shaw 87).
SUBS NOT USED: Charlie McArthur, Dean Campbell, Dan Armstrong, Sam Walker (GK)
YELLOW CARD: Sanders (17)
REFEREE: Gavin Duncan
WEATHER: Dry 8°C
ATTENDANCE 4083
NEXT MATCH: cinch Championship (away) v Arbroath, Saturday 5th March 2022 3.00pm at Gayfield
50/50 Half Time Draw - winning ticket number 527386 won £655
Views : 5,183
Related Stories
- Managers post Kilmarnock
- Manager on Thursday
- Dow delighted to be back home
- Connection with Community massive
-
Dunfermine 0-0 Kilmarnock
Sat, 26th Feb 2022
-
John Hughes post Kilmarnock
Sat, 26th Feb 2022
-
Jakub Stolarczyk post Kilmarnock
Sat, 26th Feb 2022
Check out the Gallery for more photo's -- the images below will scroll through automatically.
Preview Kilmarnock
Saturday, 26th Feb 2022cinch Championship (home) v Kilmarnock, Saturday 26th February 2022, kick off 3.00pm
Due to the postponement of the Partick Thistle match on Friday night, this Saturday Dunfermline will face Kilmarnock for the second match in a row. It is second bottom versus second top with both sides keen to take full points.
It is 25 home wins to 20 defeats in the 57 League games played between the clubs at East End Park, with Killie having a slight advantage on goal difference.
Pld | W | D | L | F | A
57 | 25 | 12 | 20 | 82 | 85
Milestones (home) v Kilmarnock
Last League Victory | 09/09/06 | 3-2 | SPL
Last League Defeat | 12/05/12 | 1-2 | SPL
Best League Victory | 06/10/51 | 5-2 | Div 2*
Worst League Defeat | 17/04/99 | 0-6 | SPL
Last Goalless Draw | 25/03/89 | 0-0 | Div 1
First Meeting | 03/01/27 | 2-3 | Div 1*
*Pre league reconstruction
Last Time at East End Park
Dunfermline 2-2 Kilmarnock
Sat, 16th Oct 2021
All four goals were scored in the second half with the visitors taking the lead midway through the second half.
A McGinn corner from the right could not be cleared and from an overhead kick by Naismith HENDRY looked offside as he directed the ball home at the far post. 0-1
Dunfermline would draw level from a speculative cross ball in from the right by THOMAS. No one cut it out or latched on to it to shoot and the ball with a bounce rolled in at the far post 1-1. Great celebrations greeted the first home league goal of the season but they were to be short lived. Less than one minute later Oli SHAW burst in on the left hand side of the Pars box and slid the ball in at the near post. 1-2
Wighton had a chance for an equaliser from an O’Hara knocked down but was high before O’Hara earned an added time corner that Hemming eventually got under control. The match though was to end with a dramatic equaliser in the fifth minute of time added on. Edwards pumped a ball from the left into the opposition box and Todorov couldn’t quite control it. However the ball dropped nicely for COMRIE to drill the ball into the left side of the Kilmarnock goal 2-2
DUNFERMLINE: Owain Fôn Williams (c): Aaron Comrie, Mark Connolly, Vytas Gašpuitis (Rhys Breen 86) , Josh Edwards: Dom Thomas, Dan Pybus (Kai Kennedy 62), Paul Allan, Ryan Dow (Nikolay Todorov 86): Kevin O’Hara, Craig Wighton.
SUBS NOT USED: Kyle Macdonald, Lewis McCann, Matty Todd, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
KILMARNOCK: Zach Hemming: Jason Naismith, Dylan McGowan, Euan Murray, Brandon Haunstrup: Rory McKenzie (Chris Burke 59), Stephen McGinn, Blair Alston, Fraser Murray: Callum Hendry (Scott Robinson 72), Oli Shaw.
SUBS NOT USED: Liam Polworth, Jack Sanders, Lee Hodson, Brad Lyons, Sam Walker (GK).
Over the last twelve league meetings, Kilmarnock have had the upper hand winning seven of the contests. DA have managed to win only two with three games ending up all square.
Last Twelve League Matches v Kilmarnock
Date . .H/A F-A . . Scorers
12/02/22 A 1-2 [1-0] Lawless, [1-1] Lafferty, [1-2] Lafferty
16/10/21 H 2-2 [0-1] Hendry, [1-1] Thomas, [1-2] Shaw, [2-2] Comrie
12/05/12 H 1-2 [1-0] Willis, [1-1] Kelly, [1-2] Winchester
07/02/12 H 1-1 [0-1] Fowler, [1-1] Kirk
21/01/12 A 3-0 [1-0] Barrowman, [2-0] Cardle, [3-0] Buchanan
10/09/11 A 2-3 [1-0] J Thomson, [1-1] Heffernan, [1-2] Heffernan, [2-2] R Thomson, [2-3] Kroca
17/02/07 H 1-1 [0-1] Naismith, [1-1] Crawford
02/12/06 A 1-5 [0-1] Hay, [1-1] Crawford, [1-2] Di Giacomo, [1-3] Di Giacomo, [1-4] Nish, [1-5] Nish
09/09/06 H 3-2 [0-1] Invincible, [1-1] Young, [1-2] Wales, [2-2] Mason, [3-2] Crawford
04/03/06 A 0-1 [0-1] Invincible
03/12/05 H 0-1 [0-1] Boyd
10/09/05 A 2-3 [1-0] Burchill, [1-1] Dodds, [1-2] Boyd, [2-2] Derek Young, [2-3] Invincible
Recent Form
Dunfermline’s four match undefeated run ended at Kilmarnock a week past Saturday. In the last six matches they have won two, drawn two and lost two.
Kilmarnock’s away form is better than their home form and they have won seven of their thirteen away league games this season. They have won their last two games, both at home and three of the last six. Their last away win was against Queen of the South at the start of January.
Last six matches
DUNFERMLINE
Kilmarnock (A) L 1-2
Ayr United (A) D 1-1
Queen of the South (A) W 2-0
Inverness Caley Thistle (H) D 1-1
Hamilton Academical (H) W 1-0
Morton (A) L 0-5
KILMARNOCK
Raith Rovers (H) W 3-0
Dunfermline (H) W 2-1
Ayr United (H) L 1-2
Arbroath (A) L 0-1
Inverness Caley Thistle (H) W 1-0
Dundee United (H) L 1-2
League Record
DUNFERMLINE
League Position: 9th
League Points: 23
Goal Difference: -16
Home League Record: P12 W2 D6 L4 GF12 GA19
Last Six Match Form: LWDWDL
KILMARNOCK
League Position: 2nd
League Points: 46
Goal Difference: +15
Away League Record: P13 W7 D3 L3 GF16 GA8
Last Six Match Form:LWLLWW
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Kilmarnock): Jakub Stolarczyk: Aaron Comrie, Coll Donaldson, Efe Ambrose, Josh Edwards: Reece Cole (Matthew Todd 73), Graham Dorrans (c), Joe Chalmers: Steven Lawless, Lewis McCann (Kevin O’Hara 79), Ryan Dow.
SUBS NOT USED: Lewis Martin, Nikolay Todorov, Rhys Breen, Paul Allan, Dom Thomas, Leon Jones, Owain Fôn Williams (GK)
KILMARNOCK v Raith Rovers): Zach Hemming: Lee Hodson, Chris Stokes (c), Euan Murray, Calum Waters (Dean Campbell 88): Stephen McGinn (Dylan Tait 77): Chris Burke (Dan Armstrong 77), Blair Alston, Rory McKenzie (Declan Glass 88), Fraser Murray (Daniel MacKay 90+3). Kyle Lafferty,
SUBS NOT USED: Jack Sanders, Jason Naismith, Liam Polworth, Oli Shaw, Sam Walker (GK)
Other Championship Fixtures
Hamilton Academical v Inverness Caledonian Thistle (Friday)
Ayr United v Queen of the South
Morton v Arbroath
Raith Rovers v Partick Thistle
Views : 5,306
