Dunfermline Athletic Celebrate New Stand Launch With First Win
Dunfermline Athletic celebrated the official launch of the Macklin Motors Community Stand with a first victory of the Scottish Championship season.
The game against Raith Rovers was the first to be played after the official renaming of the East Stand, which backs onto the Macklin Motors multi-site on Halbeath Road.
After a minute’s applause before the start to honour former player Sol Bamba following his death at the age of 39, Dunfermline were given a boost in their quest for victory when Euan Murray was dismissed for the visitors after just 15 minutes for a foul on the edge of the box.
Despite having the extra man, Dunfermline had to wait until the second half to take the lead, when a shot from the edge of the box from Ewan Otoo took a wicked deflection off defender Paul Hanlon.
That deflection left ‘keeper Kevin Dabrowski completely wrong-footed, with the ball nestling in the opposite corner to send the majority of the near 7,000 crowd into raptures.
Dunfermline continued to push for a second goal, and it finally arrived with just over ten minutes left on the clock thanks to David Wotherspoon, who had earlier set up Otoo’s opener.
Played in down the left hand side, Wotherspoon cut into the box before curling a shot beyond Dabrowski and into the far corner to wrap up the points.
The 2-0 wins means the Pars have moved off the bottom of the table to sit in seventh spot, just three points off the play-off positions.