Have a go instructions followed by Donnelly

It was his first touch of the game but, with the inspired words of his manager running through his head, Luke Donnelly, pictured, was always going to score.

Arbroath's Luke Donnelly

Donnelly had only been on the park for five minutes, after replacing Greig Spence at half-time, when manager Dick Campbell’s ‘shoot-on-sight’ demands convinced him to have a go from 20 yards. And as the ball rippled the back of the net, Donnelly became an instant hero for an Arbroath side who now find themselves in fourth place after this win over Dunfermline.

“I took Spence off because he’d been booked and these days you can be sent off in the warm up,” said Campbell.

“It seemed to work out all right with Luke’s goal! I told him to go on and have a go every time he had a chance to shoot. Within a few minutes he scored and it proved to be decisive. We won the game and deserved to win it because we controlled it. We’ve taken seven points from four games and it’s a good start. Multiply that across the season and we’ll be on 63 points, that would be fantastic wouldn’t it?”

There are three things that are certain in life – death, taxes and wind at Gayfield. Yesterday was no exception as swirling winds swept through the stands, wreaking havoc with conditions on the pitch.

Dunfermline had the advantage of playing with the wind at their backs in the first half but, while they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, they failed to make their advantage count.

Arbroath pressed Dunfermline early on and carved out the game’s first chance on seven minutes as David Gold’s defence-splitting pass sent Bobby Linn racing clear, only to have his effort blocked by Pars keeper Ryan Scully.

At the other end, Kyle Turner had a go, making a mazy run from the heart of midfield only to trundle a low 20 yard effort straight into the hands of Jamieson.

Arbroath took a deserved lead in 50 minutes, albeit in controversial circumstances. Pars winger Josh Coley fell to the ground under the challenge of Colin Hamilton with referee Steven Kirkland waving away Pars’ penalty claim. Played raged to the other end with Linn powering down the left flank and playing in sub Luke Donnelly who blasted a 20 yard effort beyond Scully.

Arbroath controlled the rest of the game with Linn and Mark Whatley coming close to adding to the score as they moved into a play-off position.