Dunfermline v Raith Rovers

MATCH POSTPONED.

Tickets will be valid for the re-arranged match.

PICTURES
Dunfermline should have opened their competitive season with an attractive Fife derby against Raith Rovers but a summer rain storm caused it never to get underway. The Petrofac Training Cup first round pitched the Pars in against the cup holders but a heavy downburst from a thunderstorm 20 minutes prior to kick off caused the match to be postponed.

Jim Jefferies selection for the match included only five of the starting eleven from the final match of last season. Survivors - Ryan Scully, Lewis Martin, Andy Geggan, Shaun Byrne and Josh Falkingham. That would have meant competitive starting debuts for new signings Gregor Buchanan and Michael Moffat.

While the teams were warming up a thunderstorm struck at 2.40pm and a partial power cut in the stadium delated the kick off. Compounding that problem was the volume of surface water that was deposited on what had been a magnificent looking pitch. Brushes and forks were deployed in the hope of a ten minute delay being sufficient. Ground staff, coaching staff and even Neil McCann tried to clear the surface water as match referee Steven McLean kicked a ball up the stretch in front of the North Stand. It was fairly sticky and the prospect of football looked pretty dodgy.

When the referee came out for the 3.30pm pitch inspection he threw the ball in the air and got absolutely no bounce. He kicked along the surfasce in front of the Main Stand and it died very quickly. He had a discussion with the groundsmen about how long they thought the water there might take to be absorbed by the dry ground but his decision was inevitable.

Despite a valiant try to fork and brush the water away, the hoovering was not sufficient and match was postponed.

Tickets will be valid for the re-arranged match.

DUNFERMLINE: Ryan Scully; Ross Millen, Gregor Buchanan, Lewis Martin, Ross Drummond; Shaun Byrne, Andy Geggan (c), Josh Falkingham, Lewis Spence; Allan Smith, Michael Moffat.
SUBS: Ryan Wallace, Faissal El Bakhtaoui, Jonathan Page, Ryan Thomson, Ross Forbes, Ryan Williamson, Ryan Goodfellow (GK).

RAITH ROVERS: Kevin Cuthbert; Jason Thomson, Paul Watson, Ross Perry, Rory McKeown, Liam Fox, Mark Stewart, Martin Scott, Christian Nade, Lewis Vaughan, Ryan Conroy
SUBS: Ross Callachan, Laurie Ellis, Ross Matthews, David Bates, Callum Robertson, Jonathan Court, Ross Laidlaw (GK).

REFEREE: Steven McLean
WEATHER: Thunderstorm at 2.40pm
ATTENDANCE: possibly 2500 but not announced
PICTURES

NEXT MATCH: Scottish League Cup (home) v Annan Athletic
Saturday 2nd August 2014, kick off 3.00pm