Arbroath 1-0 Dunfermline Athletic: 'We've got to for the championship now' - Dick Campbell
- Published
David Gold scored after nine minutes at Gayfield
Dick Campbell says "we've got to go for the championship now" after Arbroath stayed top of Scotland's second-tier by beating Dunfermline Athletic.
David Gold's early strike was also enough to send the visitors to the bottom of the Scottish Championship.
Home goalkeeper David Gaston had saved from Ryan Dow and Graham Dorrans before midfielder Gold's close-range finish.
Steven Lawless and Kevin O'Hara both struck a post and Coll Donaldson the crossbar as the Fifers responded.
But they could not prevent Arbroath ending a run of three straight draws as Dunfermline dropped two points below Queen of the South, who beat Greenock Morton 3-0, having gone four games without a victory.
Until now, the Campbell had avoided title talk having only recently admitted that the division's only part-time club were targeting a promotion play-off after long insisting that avoiding relegation was their main aim.
However, after staying one point clear of Kilmarnock with eight games remaining, the former Dunfermline player and manager admitted to BBC Scotland: "I'm definitely saying it now. We're worthy leaders."
Arbroath manager Dick Campbell: "There are a lot of tired legs out there and I don't know what I'm going to do to recharge the batteries, but the good thing from our point of view is the resilience shown.
"Can you believe that - Arbroath beating Dunfermline four times this season? I can't believe that and they are a club dear to my heart, but they are bottom of the league now and that doesn't auger well for them."
Dunfermline Athletic manager John Hughes: "I felt we totally dominated the game, but if there's a team you don't want to give a lead to, it's Arbroath.
"In the first half, we could have scored two or three goals and we deserved something in the last minute when we hit the bar. We just need to stick together and keep believing in each other and keep doing what we're doing."