The mood is positive again around East End Park – although Dunfermline fans know all too well there can be pitfalls.
Lewis McCann continued his impressive start to the season with a double versus
FC Edinburgh on Saturday.
Dundee United loanee Chris Mochrie then came off the bench to add a third on his debut.
It’s a good start to the league season for the Pars following a disappointing cup exit.
🎥 Watch the goals from yesterday's 3-0 win over FC Edinburgh.
Full Highlights Later! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/RllKRCL1HF
— Dunfermline Athletic (@officialdafc) August 6, 2022
Courier Sport caught up with Jordan Burt of Dunfermline’s official YouTube channel ParsTV and Ben Crawford, known as 1885Ben on TikTok and YouTube to get their views.
More strategy this season
Ben Crawford (1885Ben on TikTok)
It’s still early days, but Dunfermline are beginning to show a more balanced approach at both ends.
The 4-3-3 system is a welcome change and signing Chris Hamilton, Kyle Benedictus and Chris Mochrie is definitely quality over quantity.
Hamilton offers a great base to the midfield, Benedictus brings much-needed leadership lacking last season and Mochrie showed good composure to calmly slot away a goal just nine minutes into his debut.
More additions to the squad are needed but, as it stands, James McPake has done well in the market.
Mochrie’s season-long loan from Dundee United adds to the feeling that there’s more of a strategy this time around.
In previous windows, Pars fans have seen a bit of a scattergun approach.
Mochrie, due to his loan spells at Montrose, brings knowledge of League 1, whilst also offering a calmness on the ball; the latter being a big credit to him at such a young age.
Some may say this goes against promoting our own youth players, but the club have, and will continue, to give debuts to academy players and consistently play the likes of Lewis McCann, Matthew Todd and Paul Allan.
Mochrie adds to the depth and he without a doubt brings quality to the squad that will serve us well throughout the 2022/23 campaign.
Making a Mochrie of League 1
Jordan Burt (Dunfermline Athletic official YouTube channel)
It has been a really positive opening to the campaign considering last season.
Credit to James McPake, he has looked to change the atmosphere around the club from the minute he was appointed,
That can be seen by the support from the stands and the results on the park in the opening few weeks.
McPake’s recruitment has been really exciting so far – and while only three outfield players have joined, each and every one will clearly have a big role to play.
Kyle Benedictus has slotted in at centre-back and really solidified a back four which looked shot for confidence at the end of last season.
Alongside him Rhys Breen is maturing and Deniz Mehmet in goals has four clean sheets already – he had zero all last term!
Chris Hamilton, already a fans’ favourite, has been suspended for the first two League One matches and gives McPake a positive headache when he returns this weekend.
As for Chris Mochrie, he made an immediate impact against FC Edinburgh and showed the creative instincts to open sides up and carve out vital goal-scoring chances.
His talent is undoubted and if he can continue to show that potential, he could make a Mochrie of the division out wide for the Pars this season.
In such a competitive division – as shown by the difficult starts for Falkirk and Queen of the South – it can’t be viewed any other way than as a positive opening for the Pars, with hopefully a lot more to come.
With more arrivals anticipated, confidence growing and a winning mentality coming to the fore, the future looks bright.
But Montrose this Saturday will not be easy and it just wouldn’t surprise you if there was a bump in the road for Athletic – it is the nature of being in League 1!
Scout Report: Chris Mochrie’s Dunfermline debut and stat that stands out from games at Dundee United
Conversation