A chorus of throaty boos rained down from the East End Park stands as Alloa Athletic’s Ross MacIver’s penalty hit the back of the net.
A win over the 90 minutes would have taken Dunfermline Athletic into the knockout stage of the Premier Sports Cup.
No one was to know at the time, but a penalty shootout win would have too.
A lot of the ire was aimed at Joe Chalmers, who missed the crucial spot-kick.
The negativity was a remnant of the frustration from the disastrous campaign last season.
A regular since
The midfielder came on as a substitute at 1-1 that day as the Pars chased a winner.
He was then selected for starting line-up for the first League 1 match, again at home to Alloa.
Since then he has started all but one league match – often preferred to vice-captain Chris Hamilton as the most defensive of the midfielders.
As a former defender, Chalmers isn’t afraid to get stuck in, either – recent performances at Falkirk and Clyde attest to that.
He even turned out in the SPFL Trust Trophy win over Celtic B and the Reserves’ win at Livingston.
One of the features of Chalmers’ play this season is how well he has linked with Chris Mochrie.
This was in evidence as soon as the Dundee United loanee made his debut versus the club that was then known as FC Edinburgh.
Chalmers sets up Mochrie:
Different ways to win a game
After Saturday’s win in the challenging conditions of Peterhead, James McPake told Pars TV that the opening 45 minutes was “the best footballing performance from Dunfermline Athletic this season”.
“The way we controlled that game in horrific conditions,” said the Dunfermline manager.
The Pars have faced a lot of packed defences this season and at times they have struggled to break them down.
One defeat in 16 league matches does not come easily, league favourites or not.
McPake said there is no one way to play or win a game of football but that in those conditions on Saturday, keeping the ball on the deck was logical.
“I’m not too bothered about whether it’s the perfect way to play,” he said.
“We assess every game and we find a way or we work on a way that we believe can win a game.
“We knew there was no point (in going direct), we knew we had to play football and build from the back.”
That’s exactly what they did, with Sam Fisher winning the ball in his own half before striding forward and playing in Mochrie for a cool finish to make it 2-0
Mochrie’s goal:
Before that there was a bit of luck with the opener but it was thanks to Chalmers’ quick thinking that the opportunity was even there.
As everyone else in preparing for a freekick to be delivered to the box, the midfielder craftily slipped the ball to Matty Todd at the edge of the box.
Todd’s goal:
It was Chalmers’ fifth league assist of the season and he has made notable contributions to other goals.
Whether up against two banks of four or during an open encounter, Chalmers has been key to Dunfermline’s success so far this season – even more so with someone of the movement and game intelligence of Mochrie to link with.
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