Ever since creating a degree of personal notoriety after missing two penalties in the space of two minutes during a game against Ayr United last month, Dunfermline midfielder Kallum Higginbotham has been desperate to exorcise the demons which have been lingering in his psyche.
He was finally given the opportunity to do so in the Pars clash with basement club St Mirren at East End Park, driving home from the spot with a noticeable degree of panache after Michael Moffat had been hauled down by Gary MacKenzie during the first half of the 1-1 draw with the Paisley outfit.
The result extended the Fifers’ unbeaten run in all competitions to an impressive nine games and, after a disappointing start to the season, they now sit fifth in the table, just six points behind Falkirk.
“I’ve been itching to take a penalty ever since the Ayr game,” said a relieved Higginbotham.
“I’ve always said I’d like to take the next one which came along and I’m grateful to John Herron and Nicky Clark – they gave me the ball straight away after the penalty was awarded and that gave me the confidence to put it away. I’m glad that’s behind me now.”
Like everyone else connected with Dunfermline, however, Higginbotham was disappointed that, after taking the lead, the Pars failed to kill the game off and allowed Saints to equalise early in the second half when Mackenzie redeemed himself for conceding the penalty by heading home from Stephen Mallan’s corner.
“No disrespect to St Mirren,” he said, “but if we want to be in the play-offs then we have to beat the team at the bottom of the league, especially when we’re at home.
“They’re fighting for their lives just now and we knew it would be a hard game and that’s how it turned out but we said beforehand that their most likely threat would come from a set piece and it was frustrating to lose a goal that way.
“We’re not going to be too down on ourselves though – that’s nine games unbeaten and the run has given us a lot of confidence. For most of the season we’ve been looking at the teams below us but we’re only six points behind Falkirk now and we’ve still to play them twice. We have a really strong squad here and we’re definitely capable of competing at Premiership level.”
After the groundstaff had performed an excellent job in ensuring that the pitch was playable following the horrendous weather conditions of late, Dunfermline dominated the first half but had only Higginbotham’s penalty to show for their efforts.
MacKenzie’s equaliser inspired the visitors but the Pars continued to push for the winner and Moffat was unlucky when Clark’s low cross bobbled in front of him causing him to shoot wide from just six yards out.
“It was disappointing to drop two points” said manager Allan Johnston.
“With the chances we had we should have put the game to bed.”