Liam laments loss

Pars striker opens his account but is meaningless in the end.

There is always rivalry in Fife over who is the 'wee' team and who is the best. Dunfermline's new SPL status certainly puts them up at the top of the rankings on the nationwide scene. Last season the East End Park earned that with good wins over Cowdenbeath and Raith Rovers but in the Kingdom John Robertson's East Fife bagged the bragging rights with an impressive and deserved win over the Pars in the Second Round of the Scottish Communities League Cup on Tuesday night.

East Fife hadn't met the Pars in competitive action since the Scottish Cup in 2005 but when the SPL side met the then Third Division side it required a replay to progress after a goalless draw at New Bayview. East Fife's League Cup record against Dunfermline was 100% in the five meetings up to 1953 but they hadn't won any of the next three. This was the first time the clubs had been paired together in the competition since 1988 but even then Dunfermline went through in a penalty shoot out.

So it was likely to be a tricky tie for the West Fifers but given their fine away wins in Perth and Dundee in the previous ten days few would have bet against them overcoming the team that was middle to bottom of the Second Division. Liam Buchanan was brought in to the Dunfermline team along with Kevin Rutkiewicz, Steven McDougall and Andy Barrowman. It was to be a nightmare of an evening for them and their teammates.

Despite scoring a 12th minute goal, it was a dismal first start of the season for Liam and he was very down when he emerged from the dressing room at Methil to meet the press. Nonetheless he gave an honest account of the match:-

"We were poor from start to finish really. Give East Fife a lot of credit, they played well and looked really hungry. On the other hand we didn't turn up and we got punished."

The 26 year old striker was starting his first game of the season and it was a scoring debut but one flavoured with the acute disappointment of defeat:-

"It was pleasing to score but at the end of the day we are out of the cup. It means nothing. I am really disappointed with the result and hard to be pleased about anything after a performance like that and that defeat."

East Fife appeared to have the better shots at goal but Dunfermline had a barrow load of corners towards the end of the second half that they created very little from:-

"We certainly did but unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of any of them and get a goal or two. We have a game soon enough, the boys need to get back in training, get our heads lifted, start sharper and hopefully put in a better performance on Saturday."

Having lost credibility on the local stage there is some irony in the fact that should they beat Motherwell on Saturday at East End Park, there is every likelihood that with the Old Firm not in action until Sunday that the Pars could top the Premier League for the first time since November 1989. Liam is hoping that the team can bounce back and recover in the league:-

"The boys proved in the league campaign that they are more than capable of competing in the Premier League so we need to look to Saturday for a positive response from everybody. There is no point in getting ourselves down about it. We have to put it at the back of our minds and learn from it."

The defeat was the Pars first away reversal since losing in the last minute to Aberdeen at Pittodrie in February and there is no doubt that they want to return to that winning habit. Liam added:-

"You want to keep that winning mentality going as long as you can; get used to winning games and going into games knowing that you are going to win them. Hopefully this is not too much of a setback."