Dunfermline left it late for the second week in succession.
The Pars, who scored three goals in the closing stages of last weekend’s triumph at Stenhousemuir, fell behind to visitors Stranraer at East End Park on Saturday before eventually wrapping up victory with two quickfire strikes in the final eight minutes.
For teenage defender Luke Johnston, on loan from Dundee United, it was a day to remember for a variety of reasons.
The youngster gave away a needless penalty to gift the Blues an early lead before redeeming himself by firing the Fifers in front late on as the game appeared destined to end in a draw.
“I felt the penalty decision was a wee bit harsh,” said Johnston. “Although, at the end of the day it was a bad decision on my part to make the challenge.
“The manager gave me some stick for it but it’s something I’ll learn from. It wasn’t my best performance but to get the goal and the three points made it a good day for the team.
“Both Andy Geggan and myself are encouraged to go forward at set-pieces and this time I told Andy I’d give it a go. It was a relief to see the ball go in so maybe I’ll be getting forward a lot more in future.”
The opening goal arrived in the 21st minute when Johnston pushed Martin Grehan on the edge of the penalty box and although Mark Corcoran’s spot kick was brilliantly saved by Ryan Scully the Dunfermline defenders failed to clear and Corcoran’s follow-up effort was touched home by the predatory Grehan.
The home side responded immediately, with Geggan forcing the ball over the line from Ross Millen’s cross a minute later.
Although the Pars bombarded the Stranraer goal for most of the game thereafter, it wasn’t until the 82nd minute when Johnston, making his league debut for the club, put them in front with a close-range strike from Millen’s free-kick.
Substitute Alan Smith made sure of victory with a well-struck 20-yarder four minutes from the end.
“I felt sometimes we were trying to walk the ball into the net,” said Dunfermline boss Jim Jefferies. “There was one great move where Ryan Wallace found himself in a scoring position but instead of burying it he tried to pass the ball.
“It was something we talked about at half-time. We were getting the ball into good areas in the last third of the pitch but choosing the wrong options.
“Stranraer were trying to hit us on the break. They had a couple of experienced players up front and could easily have gone in front when the score was 1-1 but we created plenty of chances and kept plugging away.
“In the end, we’re full-time, they’re part-time and we knew they’d had a hard game in midweek which was always going to tell.
“We kept the pressure on them and it paid off.”