Airdrieonians 3 Dunfermline 4
Saturday, 11th Feb 2023cinch League One: same again starting elevens for both teams. Gabby McGill (29) 1-0: Calum Gallagher (38) 2-0: Robbie Mahon (o.g.49) 3-0: Kyle Benedictus (60 pen.) 3-1: Matty Todd (66) 3-2: Matty Todd (81) 3-3: Nikolay Todorov (86) 3-4
A cold February afternoon in North Lanarkshire drummed up a match that will have Pars fans talking about and recalling for years to come.
This fixture which was postponed due to frost in December took Dunfermline to the Excelsior Stadium to play Airdrieonians there for the first time since April 2016. James McPake went with the same starting eleven as faced Montrose the previous week and new on loan signing Ewan Otoo was on the bench.
The home side named an unchanged starting eleven captained by former Pars skipper Callum Fordyce and including other former Dunfermline players Rhys McCabe, Gabby McGill and Callum Smith.
A large and vocal travelling support, 730 strong, had made the journey to Airdrie and they were certainly up for the fixture as their side wearing their third strip, attacked the goal at the east end of the stadium for the first half. It was the Pars who created the first chance of the game when Lewis McCann fed the ball to his right for Kyle Macdonald to tap the ball past his marker and hit a shot from the edge of the box that soared over the crossbar.
Chris Hamilton picked up a sixth minute yellow card in conceding a free kick 22 yards out and fortunately McCabe drove the setplay into the Dunfermline wall. At the other end McCann gathered a Macdonald cross and fired the ball through the Diamonds six yard box but there were no takers.
In 12th minute Deniz Mehmet was forced into action to stop a low effort from the right by McGill before a block by Josh Edwards allowed him to chip the ball forward for McCann to race all the way up the left and cross for Matty Todd to shoot from the edge of the box but his low attempt. It seemed like Craig Wighton had headed in a 17th minute opener as he connected with a Todd delivery from the right but referee Gavin Duncan saw some reason to disallow it.
The Diamonds keeper, Josh Rae, saw yellow when coming well out of his box on the left side and McCann went sprawling from his challenge. Unfortunately Joe Chalmers’ diagonal delivery slipped through the box and the home side survived a nervous moment. The tempo of the match was fast with neither team getting much time to dwell on the ball.
Aaron Comrie did well to deny Frizzell a shot in 28 minutes and the visitors defended his corner from the left but Dunfermline next paid dearly for losing the ball in their own half and a ball over the top was ideal for McGILL to latch on to an opportunity that he sent past Mehmet from 15 yards out. 1-0
A double substitution in 32 minutes brought Robbie Mahon and Ewan Otoo on for Hamilton and Chalmers but Airdrie did not relent any. Mehmet did well to turn away a Charlie Telfer shot but then Frizzell was about to end a good move by teeing up Calum GALLAGHER in front of goal and he made no mistake in scoring the Diamonds second. There were 38 minutes on the clock and it was 2-0.
Mahon’s 42nd minute shot from 25 yards out cleared the crossbar but the half would end without the league leaders managing a shot on target. Rhys McCabe’s side were well on top and there was going to have to a much improved performance in the second half.
Half time: Airdrieonians 2 Dunfermline 0
Chris Mochrie replaced Kyle Macdonald before the second 45 resumed and Rae had to tip a screamer of a shot by McCann from 25 yards out, on to and over his crossbar within 70 seconds. Dunfermline had two corners with no return before Euan Deveney scrambled away down the left flank and punctuated that with a cross that came off the shoulder of the unlucky MAHON to enter the net at the near post. 3-0
The away fans were on their feet and the Dunfermline players complaining bitterly to the referee in 56th minute when the, already yellow carded, Airdrie keeper slid out and handled the ball outside his box. No card was shown despite Gavin Duncan awarding an 19 yard free kick that Otoo smash narrowly over the bar.
There was a distinct feeling of injustice but the referee did show a red card to Callum Smith just three minutes later. From his own half Mahon made a run up the right side before exchanging a pass with Mochrie that played him into the Diamonds’ box. His on-target shot was blocked but dropped for Wighton who was denied the shot by the intervention of the former Par’s hand. Kyle BENEDICTUS stepped up and smacked the ball home low right with the keeper going for the other side, 3-1
With the deficit cut and the opposition down to ten men suddenly the hope of rescuing something from this match appeared possible. Kevin O’Hara was introduced in place of Rhys Breen as the Pars looked to exploit the extra man. Edwards powered an attempt into the sidenetting before in 66 minutes Mahon cut the ball back for TODD to crash home in off the left upright from 18 yards. His eighth goal of the season made it 3-2 with a quarter of the match still to play.
Now the game was firmly in the Airdrieonians half and at times the ball was headed around their box. The home keeper was warned by the referee as Lewis McGregor replaced Charlie Telfer. Nikolay Todorov was also brought into the fray with Lewis McCann being withdrawn.
There were nine minutes remaining when Benedictus found himself on the right, his pass picked out Mahon who squared for TODD to shoot home with the aid of a deflection, from 25 yards out. 3-3
O’Hara had a close one at the far post before in 86 minutes the incredible comeback was complete. It was Wighton who made ground down the left and his cross was expertly turned away from the keeper and in by TODOROV. 3-4
The scenes both on and off the pitch were of utter delight. The stewards suddenly arrived to make sure the Fifers fans’ joy would not overspill but this was a match in which remarkable or incredible weren’t words enough to describe it.
The added minutes were negotiated and the three points were in the bag. Too bad for the pessimists who sneaked out at 3-0 down, they missed a tremendous performance by a side that never gave up. Dunfermline restored their seven point lead at the top of League One but this was a huge boost to the morale and we have it all to do again next week.
SUBS NOT USED: Salim Kouider-Aïssa, Dean McMaster, Craig Watson, Bright Prince, David Hutton (GK).
SCORERS: McGill (29), Gallagher (38), Mahon (o.g.49)
YELLOW CARD: Rae (19)
RED CARD: Smith (59)
DUNFERMLINE: Deniz Mehmet: Aaron Comrie, Kyle Benedictus (c), Rhys Breen (Kevin O’Hara 64): Kyle Macdonald (Chris Mochrie HT), Chris Hamilton (Ewan Otoo 32), Joe Chalmers (Robbie Mahon 32), Josh Edwards: Matthew Todd: Craig Wighton, Lewis McCann (Nikolay Todorov 79).
SUBS NOT USED: Miller Fenton, Kane Ritchie-Hosler, Andrew Tod, Max Little (GK).
SCORERS: Benedictus (60 pen.), Todd (66, 81), Todorov (86)
YELLOW CARD: Hamilton (6)
REFEREE: Gavin Duncan
WEATHER: Cloudy 10°C
ATTENDANCE 2198
NEXT MATCH: cinch League One (home) v Airdrieonians, Saturday 18th February 2023, kick off 3.00pm
Views : 6,600
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Match Photos To Follow.
Preview Airdrieonians
Saturday, 11th Feb 2023cinch League One: (away) v Airdrieonians, Saturday 11th February 2023, kick off 3.00pm at the Excelsior Stadium.
Dunfermline Athletic face Airdrieonians at the Excelsior Stadium this Saturday and it will be their first visit there since the League One match in April 2016. This match is the re-arranged fixture after the postponement of the original date, 17th December and is the first of two consecutive league matches against the Diamonds.
The Lanarkshire side are two places and ten points behind the league leaders but they are unbeaten in their last four league matches and only FC Edinburgh have so far registered wins at the Excelsior Stadium this season.
In league meetings Dunfermline and Airdrie, the Diamonds are marginally ahead of the Pars with 41 wins to Dunfermline`s 39, 32 matches have been drawn including the last one at East End Park in August this year.
|
Pars v Airdrie: The Full League Record |
||||||
|
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
|
At
East End
|
58 |
23 |
20 |
15 |
91 |
86 |
|
At Airdrie |
54 |
16 |
12 |
26 |
83 |
117 |
|
TOTALS |
112 |
39 |
32 |
41 |
174 |
205 |
.
Last Meeting
League One, 27th August 2022
Dunfermline 1 Airdrieonians 1
Dunfermline 1-1 Airdrieonians
Sat, 27th Aug 2022
Dunfermline took the lead midway through the second half when Edwards launched another throw in from the right. Todorov rose for it with former Pars captain Callum FORDYCE at the near post and the goal came off the Airdrieonians centre back. Ironically Dycey first goal for Dunfermline, 1-0.
The noise level increased significantly as East End Park celebrated and just four minutes later it came close for them to celebrating two but Todd smashed the ball narrowly wide left. Fordyce then almost made amends with a shot that went over off the crossbar.
It was Airdrieonians who scored the only other goal with FRIZZELL taking advantage of an unfortunate attempt to clear and whacking a low shot into the bottom right of the Pars goal. The 78th minute goal was the first this season to be scored against the Pars in League One. 1-1
The one point meant Airdrieonians returned to North Lanarkshire top of the league on goal difference.
DUNFERMLINE: Deniz Mehmet: Aaron Comrie, Kyle Benedictus (c), Rhys Breen, Josh Edwards: Chris Hamilton (Joe Chalmers 62): Kyle Macdonald, Matthew Todd, Chris Mochrie: Kevin O’Hara (Lewis McCann 50), Nikolay Todorov
SUBS NOT USED: Sam Fisher, Andrew Tod, Taylor Sutherland, Max Little (GK)
AIRDRIEONIANS: Murray Johnson: Cammy Ballantyne, Rhys McCabe, Euan Deveney (Ben Wylie 73), Callum Fordyce, Adam Frizzell, Callum Smith, Lewis Jamieson (Calum Gallagher 43), Craig Watson, Justin Devenny, Gabby McGill (Salim Kouider-Aïssa 85).
SUBS NOT USED: Cole Gibson, Trialist, Dean McMaster, Alex Henderson.
Last twelve meetings
Airdrieonians have won six, Dunfermline three and three have been drawn.
2015/2016
League One Dunfermline 1-1 Airdrieonians 27/08/22
2015/2016
League One Airdrieonians 3-0 Dunfermline 23/04/16
League One Dunfermline 0-1 Airdrieonians 29/01/16
League One Airdrieonians 0-2 Dunfermline 14/11/15
League One Dunfermline 1-1 Airdrieonians 26/09/15
2014/2015
League One Airdrieonians 3-2 Dunfermline 02/05/15
League One Dunfermline 2-2 Airdrieonians 17/01/15
League One Airdrieonians 3-1 Dunfermline 13/12/14
League One Dunfermline 3-0 Airdrieonians 23/08/14
2013/2014
League One Airdrie United 2-0 Dunfermline 05/04/14
League One Dunfermline 0-1 Airdrie United 18/01/14
League One Airdrie United 0-3 Dunfermline 16/11/13
Recent Form
Airdrieonians have won as many points at home this season as Dunfermline. They have won four of their last six games and lost only one league match since 29th October.
Dunfermline are undefeated in their last ten league matches and have lost only three away from home this season - against Premierleague Ross County, Championship Dundee and at Montrose. In League One the Pars away form is better than their home form with eight wins, 17 goals and only four conceded on the road.
Last six matches
DUNFERMLINE
Montrose (H) W 2-0
Clyde (A) D 1-1
Dundee (A) L 2-4
Partick Thistle (A) D 1-1
Peterhead (H) W 4-0
FC Edinburgh (A) W 1-0
AIRDRIEONIANS
Clyde (H) W 1-0
Alloa Athletic (H) W 4-0
Kelty Hearts (A) D 1-1
Peterhead (A) W 3-0
FC Edinburgh (H) L 3-5
Montrose (A) W 4-2
League Record
DUNFERMLINE
League Position: 1st
League Points: 49
Goal Difference: +23
Away League Record: P11 W8 D2 L1 GF17 GA4
Last Six Match Form: WWDLDW
AIRDRIEONIANS
League Position: 3rd
League Points: 39
Goal Difference: +14
Home League Record: P11 W7 D2 L2 GF28 GA15
Last Six Match Form: WLWDWW
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Montrose): Deniz Mehmet: Aaron Comrie, Kyle Benedictus (c), Rhys Breen (Kevin O’Hara 59): Kyle Macdonald, Chris Hamilton (Chris Mochrie 90+9), Joe Chalmers, Josh Edwards: Matthew Todd: Craig Wighton (Nikolay Todorov 85), Lewis McCann.
SUBS NOT USED: Miller Fenton, Kane Ritchie-Hosler, Sam Young, Andrew Tod, Robbie Mahon, Max Little (GK)
AIRDRIEONIANS (v Clyde): Josh Rae: Cammy Ballantyne, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Callum Fordyce, Euan Deveney, Rhys McCabe, Adam Frizzell, Charlie Telfer (Ben Stanway 65), Callum Smith, Gabby McGill (Lewis McGregor 45),
Calum Gallagher,
SUBS NOT USED: David Hutton, Salim Kouider-Aïssa, Dean McMaster, Craig Watson, Justin Devenny, Lachie Byrd, Bright Prince
This is the only League One fixture this weekend.
Views : 9,877
