Dunfermline are up to fourth in the Scottish Championship after a well-earned 2-1 win over Morton.
Owen Moffat’s first-half double was enough to seal the points even after Steven Boyd’s second-half penalty set up a nervy finish for James McPake’s side.
Dunfermline went into the game on a run of three games without a point or a goal.
It was their first win at Cappielow in 12 attempts. The last one came in 2017Â when Nat Wedderburn scored the only goal of the game.
Courier Sport looks at the talking points from an important win for the Pars.
Instant Dunfermline response
The longer you go without a goal the more it plays on the mind but Dunfermline didn’t even have time to overthink it, taking the lead in just 21 seconds.
Soon after, they’d added a second and played out the rest of the half with a swagger that involved some wonderful passages of play.
Deniz Mehmet was hardly tested at the other end and Morton were forced into a first-half change when Iain Wilson was replaced by Lewis McGrattan.
Owen Moffat at the double
The 21-year-old has been given a run of starts in recent weeks and responded with the first senior goals of his career – though he did score for Celtic B in the SPFL Trust Trophy last season.
They were two assured finishes. The first saw him react quickest to a second ball and hook it out of reach of Jamie MacDonald.
The second strike was beautifully fired, low into the bottom corner from outside the box.
Dunfermline needed someone to step up and score goals and Moffat was the man to deliver.
Chris Hamilton starts in defence
With Kyle Benedictus and Rhys Breen missing through injury, Chris Hamilton again played in the centre of the back three and performed well.
He is excellent in the air, despite his size, and brings similar aggression and organisation as the absent Pars captain.
Morton started the second half well, but Dunfermline defended impressively, with Hamilton executing a good block on Cameron Blues’ strike.
The Pars vice-captain should then have probably scored a few minutes later to make it 3-0, though it was a difficult one to judge after Paul Allan’s corner bounced off the near post.
Overall, it was a solid defensive display and Mehmet made an outstanding save from George Oakley’s header before the ball was scrambled off the line.
League table looking up for Dunfermline
The Pars had to dig deep when Mehmet gave away the penalty that was converted by Boyd.
Like Raith Rovers did on Tuesday night at the same venue, Dunfermline showed the other side of their game to secure the victory.
There was even a last minute scare from a set piece, as there was for Rovers.
Going into Friday night’s match, the worst-case scenario was that Dunfermline would slip to second bottom of the Championship. A draw wouldn’t have done much for their league position.
But this win lifts them into fourth, two points behind Partick Thistle with a game in hand.
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