Published: Monday, 11th August, 2008 09:05
Kirk at the double for Dunfermline
By Simon Harris
Comments (0)
Print Article
Pars 2 Queen of the South 1
NEW goal hero Andy Kirk’s two-goal blast gave the Pars an unlikely victory in Saturday’s East End opener.
Deservedly trailing 1-0 at half-time to Stewart Kean’s 26th minute opener, Athletic looked to be heading to a second successive league defeat until new signing Kirk made his mark.
The former Hearts hitman struck twice in 15 minutes after the break with deadly finishes to take his tally to three goals in two games and give Jim McIntyre’s men all three points.
The Pars started brightly enough in front of a sparse home crowd of less than 3000 but it was the Doonhammers who soon began to dominate with Kean, Sean O’Connor and Gary Arbuckle causing all sorts of problems for the home defence.
Scott Thomson had to clear on his six-yard line after Kean had reached the touchline in the 14th minute and six minutes later, the away number seven fired in a shot deflected narrowly past Paul Gallacher’s goal.
Gallacher was struggling to hold on to an O’Connor shot on 24 minutes in the slippy conditions and it was no surprise when Gordon Chisholm’s men took the lead two minutes later.
However, the manner of it was unfortunate for the Pars as Thomson stumbled as he tried to cut out a Neil McFarlane through ball, leaving Kean the simple task of beating Gallacher from close range.
Thomson had to be substituted with a hamstring pull requiring McIntyre to reshape his defence with Calum Woods coming on at right back and Greg Shields slotting in to the centre.
The Pars looked increasingly ragged with the visitors looking the more potent, cohesive unit and it took a last-ditch covering tackle from Woods to deny O’Connor in first-half injury time.
Half-time brought some harsh words from McIntyre but it was Queen of the South who nearly made it 2-0 on 52 minutes when a corner led to a goal-line scramble which the Pars just survived.
Enter the hitherto anonymous Kirk who, two minutes later, stepped off his marker to receive an Alex Burke pass and then turned to fire a right-footed drive from 20 yards past ex-Par Bryn Halliwell and into the bottom left corner.
Arbuckle had a chance to restore the visitors’ lead when he skipped past Woods and cut in from the left but at the other end the on-fire Kirk was trying an overhead kick from Kevin Harper’s cross.
Now it was all Pars as the home side pressed for a winner with Burke, Woods and Nicky Phinn all having shots at goal.
None had the accuracy of Kirk, however, who made it 2-1 on 69 minutes, latching onto a header from strike partner Graham Bayne, turning again and arrowing in a low drive to the same corner he’d found 15 minutes earlier.
The hungry Kirk sensed a hat-trick and he hammered in a fantastic first-time thunderbolt on 82 minutes after being found by an excellent Stephen Glass pass which Halliwell did well to repel.
In an exciting finale, the Pars had to withstand a penalty scare when sub Iain Williamson appeared to bring down Arbuckle but ref Stevie O’Reilly booked the striker for diving.
The visitors’ Andy Aitken was sent off for a crude lunge on Bayne with two minutes left then Arbuckle had the chance to save a point three minutes into injury time but he scooped over when unmarked in front of Gallacher.
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Further Details
Lynch angry as ban on Ross is lifted