Dumbarton0–4Dunfermline Ath

Stevie Farrell insists he saw reasons to be positive, as Championship Dunfermline gave Sons a lesson in finishing at The Rock.


Down 1-0 after a spirited first-half showing, Chris Kane’s goal to double the visitors’ lead on the stroke of half-time gave the new look Sons a mountain to climb - with Andrew Tod and Josh Cooper’s second of the afternoon putting the result beyond doubt.


However Faz remained upbeat, saying: “In the first-half I was pleased with us, but we lost two goals that were preventable. But we played some good stuff going up the pitch.


“But ultimately Dunfermline deserved to win the game. They are a right good side and I said that to Neil (Lennon) after the game.


“It’s always good to test yourselves and see where you’re at against these players. But we got a lot out of the game, we’ve brought 16 players in and it’s invaluable in bedding the players in.”


Boss Farrell continued his policy of rotating the squad during the Premier Sports Cup, with goalkeeper Ollie Ecrepont joining Cammy Clark, Kai Kirkpatrick and Leighton McIntosh in making their first starts of the campaign.


Sons looked lively early on, and could’ve been ahead after testing the Pars’ backline.


First a Scott Honeyman corner was lashed over his own bar by a Dunfermline defender with keeper Deniz Mehmet rooted to the spot, before the Turkish stopper got down well to hold a Leighton McIntosh header from Tony Wallace’s inch-perfect delivery.


McIntosh came close again as he reacted first to Morgyn Neill’s header but saw his effort blocked at point blank range by Mehmet.


Then, with their first serious attack of the game, the Pars punished Sons for their missed chances.


Patient play saw the ball find Josh Cooper on the edge of the area, and he advanced towards the box before curling an effort around a sea of legs and into the bottom corner of Ecrepont’s net.


Kane Ritchie-Hosler and Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen went close to adding a second soon after, before the game dropped into somewhat of a lull - with chances at a premium.


It looked as if Sons would get to half-time just a goal behind. But, in the first minute of stoppage time, a former favourite reminded the home support all about his quality.


Chris Kane - who netted 15 times in 30 games during two loan spells at The Rock more than a decade ago - picked up possession inside his own half and split the Dumbarton defence wide open with a superb through ball to Ewan Otoo.


Kane timed his run perfectly to get on the end of Otoo’s return pass, bending a superb effort beyond the full-stretch Ecrepont to give the visitors a cushion.


And that was extended further early in the second period, as substitute Andrew Tod took full advantage of a static backline to spring Sons’ offside trap, with the bespectacled youngster calmly rounding Ecrepont and rolling into the empty net.


By this stage the game was threatening to run away from the Sons, with tenacious play from Tod winning back possession inside the box - he found Shea Kearney, and the Irishman’s cross was volley home from close range by the onrushing Cooper.


That made the final half hour a non-event, as both sides rotated their squads and played out the final third with little of note ahead of Dumbarton’s trip to Tynecastle on Wednesday.