Kilmarnock 0 - 3 Dunfermline: After the drought the deluge as inspired Pars sweep Killie aside

AS IF it wasn’t enough that Dunfermline secured their first win in two-and-a-half months yesterday – only their second since August – they had the audacity to do it in style.

Believe it or not, they didn’t just eclipse their opponents here, they swept them aside with goals by Andy Barrowman, Joe Cardle and Liam Buchanan, all of which were thoroughly deserved.

What a difference a week makes. Seven days after losing their relegation showdown with Hibernian, the Fife side are back within a point of their Edinburgh rivals, requiring only a win at Fir Park on Tuesday night to lift themselves off the bottom of the table. “I’m really, really pleased,” said Jim McIntyre, their manager. “It has been a long time coming. A win, a performance, a clean sheet. The players were exceptional in difficult conditions.”

Dunfermline were invigorated by new blood. Iain Turner, on loan from Everton, made a couple of crucial saves when there was only one goal in it. Kevin Rutkiewicz, back to fitness, formed a solid defensive partnership with Alex Keddie. And Mark Kerr, who has spent the last couple of years in Greece, exerted a calming influence on the midfield in his first match for the club.

They also rather mischievously passed on to Kilmarnock their self-destructive tendencies. Sure, a lumpen pitch and a swirling wind did not help the home side to play their usual passing game from the back, but the catalogue of individual errors were so extensive that it is a wonder Dunfermline didn’t score more.

Buchanan could, and should, have had a hat-trick in the first half. A stagnant Kilmarnock defence seemed intent on leaving him to race clear, but the former Partick Thistle striker conspicuously failed to take advantage. First, he hesitated long enough to let Zdenek Kroca intervene with a sliding tackle. Then, with only the goalkeeper to beat, a clumsy touch sent the ball spinning out of control. When his next chance left him with too narrow an angle, he tried to execute a square ball across the penalty box, but it picked out nobody.

That opportunity had come about thanks to a mistake by Mohamadou Sissoko, whose repeated dithering was not going down well with the home support. Manuel Pascali was another not at his best, fluffing a clearance from his own penalty spot, so that the ball spun kindly to Buchanan. On this occasion, the striker was not at fault, hitting the ball on the drop. It would have gone in had Cammy Bell not been out quickly to block.

Thankfully for Dunfermline, Buchanan kept at it. If he couldn’t score the opener that his team merited, he could at least set it up. Two minutes before the interval, another mistake by Sissoko sent the striker clear. With the goalkeeper again narrowing the angle, Buchanan squared it to Barrowman, who neatly clipped it past the goalkeeper.

A low effort by Dean Shiels prompted an outstanding save by Turner, whose strong right hand diverted the ball wide. Then the goalkeeper tipped over the bar a fierce shot by Garry Hay.

Sadly for Kilmarnock, their carelessness at the back continued. In the second half, it was Kroca who seemed hellbent on gifting his opponents a goal. When he slipped near the corner flag, Buchanan seized possession, darted infield, and played an inviting pass towards the near post. Barrowman was first to it, but turned the ball wide of the upright. Kroca’s biggest mistake was still to come, however. On the hour mark, he tried to usher the ball out for a goal-kick, but succeeded only in letting Buchanan gain possession. The striker cut the ball back to Cardle, whose low, angled shot was too powerful for Bell.

Cardle might have had another when the ball broke to him on the edge of the area. His shot was crisp, but it was also the right height for Bell, who flung out a hand to palm it away.

Bell, though, could do nothing about the third, which arrived three minutes from the end. The cutback, this time, was by Andy Kirk, a Dunfermline substitute, the finish by Buchanan, who deserved nothing less.