John McGlynn: 'Criminal' set-piece gave Pars three points in a match they set up to take one from

Craig Wighton’s header on the hour mark was the all-important moment in an otherwise tense derby affair – which saw over 7,000 supporters turn out on the day to back both teams as they battle for promotion.

The Bairns huffed and puffed and failed to provide any real moments of quality as they slumped seven points behind James McPake’s side.

“For a simple set-piece like that to decide such an important game was criminal,” McGlynn raged. “It wasn’t a great match at all – and that was sad for the supporters who turned out in big numbers.

"It was a game of chess. Dunfermline came for one point and they managed to get all three points because we didn’t defend one corner kick. The tally was 11-3 for us and they got a goal from one, it just wasn’t good enough.

"There was nothing in the game whatsoever. We didn’t produce enough quality but the worst we should have taken out of that match was a 0-0 draw. We wouldn’t have been happy with that either.

"We paid for a mistake dearly. Breaking them down was our goal and we didn’t do it, they sat back deep and invited us but in the end we lost the match. They cracked their game plan and it was up to us to break that.”

The boss also admitted that the bigger picture from the outcome was that they blew an opportunity to continue to rekindle the bond between the fans and the club after a tumultuous period in the club’s history.

McGlynn added: “Listen, before the summer no-one would have believed that the club could get 5,000 fans through the doors for a game. We have managed to do that by raising the expectation levels.

"But that comes with a caveat of actually doing something at the end of it all. We knew the size of the game and the way we have been playing in the main has been excellent, so today was just so disappointing.”The potential is massive here and I know that, everyone knows that. We need to dust ourselves down.”