Dunfermline manager Allan Johnston was left to rue the Pars profligacy in front of goal as they went down 2-0 to Ayr United at East End on Saturday.
The Pars boss admitted he was ‘disappointed’ as he bemoaned: “Their keeper had a wonder second half judging by the amount of saves he made you are not going to do that every week.
“The boys did really well. I am disappointed with the result but they have got to learn from it,” said Johnston, who handed debuts to new signings Shaun Rooney and Mickael Antoine-Curier.
“It is still early in the season and we are just a point of the top.”
The match started at a frenetic pace with neither team able to take control in midfield or trouble the opposite goalie in the first 20 minutes.
This was to change in the 23rd minute when Ayr broke away, some lovely interplay with Craig Moore saw Alan Forrest free in the box, he cut back expertly before planting the ball neatly into the bottom corner to send the noisy away support into delirium.
The first half threatened to boil over as it progressed with the main flashpoint coming in the dying moments when a Paddy Boyle tackle on Callum Fordyce led to the pars man being stretchered off with a suspected broken leg.
The Pars looked to shake this off in the second half though and came out pressing.
However, it was Ayr who doubled their lead against the run of play in the 59th minute when a calamitous bit of goalkeeping left Jordan Preston free to strike home.
A deep cross was bundled by Sean Murdoch under pressure and although the Pars managed to clear the first attempt off the line there was nothing they could do about Preston’s well-placed follow-up.
The home men then threw everything at Ayr in the last half hour but could not find a way past former Pars goalie Greg Fleming in the Ayr goal.