Sean Murdoch insists Dunfermline will have no chance of realising their Premiership aspirations if their “shocking, terrible” first-half display against Livingston is a sign of things to come.
Optimism abounded at East End Park ahead of the new Championship season following a fine Betfred Cup campaign, which saw the Pars top a group section that included top-flight Hearts.
However, they fell flat in their curtain-raiser in West Lothian and were fortunate to escape the Lions’ lair with a scarcely-merited point.
A contentious Kallum Higginbotham penalty was required to secure a share of the spoils, converted after Joe Cardle had gone to ground under a soft challenge from Livi’s Alan Lithgow.
That cancelled out Scott Pittman’s opener for the hosts, while a heroic last-gasp spot-kick save by Murdoch stopped Danny Mullen from claiming victory.
The Dunfermline number one said: “They started like a house on fire and we couldn’t cope, we were terrible.
The manager had some strong words at half-time and rightly so – we were shocking.
“Not a single player can say they were good enough.
“We improved in the second half but we couldn’t have got much worse.
“We need to do so much better than that if we want to be challenging at the top of the Championship.
“If we keep playing like that then we will have no chance of getting out of this league.”
That need for improvement is only exacerbated by the impending trip to face Rangers in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup on Wednesday.
Murdoch added: “We know we’ll need to play better than that at Ibrox.
“If we play like we did in the first half, it might be a long night!
“However, that’s a game we are all looking forward to.
“It’s a massive occasion for the club and is a very different challenge to the Livi game; one we are relishing.
“We’ll do our homework, prepare and give it a real go.”
Dale Carrick stung the palms of Murdoch before the lively Josh Mullin saw a goalbound shot deflected inches wide as Livi exploded from the blocks at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
The hosts claimed the lead their dominance deserved on the half-hour mark when Pittman collected a short corner from Mullin, woefully unimpeded, and surged to the edge of the box to curl a delightful low shot through a forest of legs and beyond Murdoch.
A dismal opening 45 from the visitor was typified when debutant Fraser Aird was withdrawn just 37 minutes into his Pars bow to be replaced by David Hopkirk.
Dunfermline boss Allan Johnston later candidly conceded: “We needed to make a change and I could have taken off anyone.”
A Carrick header was cleared off the line in the second period as David Hopkin’s men sought to double their advantage.
Livi paid for their profligacy when Cardle latched on to a Hopkirk pass inside the box and plunged to the turf under a challenge from Alan Lithgow.
Despite minimal contact, ref Alan Newlands pointed to the spot and Higginbotham converted the kick.
Mullen, however, could not do the same with four minutes left on the clock.
The young striker had been scythed down in ludicrous fashion by Jean-Yves M’voto and dusted himself off to take the penalty – only to see it parried to safety by Murdoch.
Mullen, who admirably faced the assembled media after his failure from 12 yards, added: “It was killing me after the game – so disappointing.
“But I’ll get over it and, if we get another penalty, I’ll be ready to step up again.”
