Dunfermline Athletic 4-1 Partick Thistle: First-half goals power hosts off bottom spot
- Published
Dom Thomas, right, inspired Dunfermline's victory, assisting two and scoring one of their four goals
Dunfermline Athletic climbed off the foot of the Scottish Championship by roaring back to beat Partick Thistle.
The hosts fell behind to Ross Docherty's fine early curler, but soon responded with three first-half goals.
Lewis Mayo spooned into his own net, before Matthew Todd and Josh Edwards were teed up by Dom Thomas.
It was Thomas who sealed Dunfermline's first win in seven games late on, moving them three points clear of Queen of the South, while Thistle sit fourth.
This was a damaging third straight defeat for Ian McCall's men, three days after the 4-0 trouncing dished out by Hamilton Academical, and four before travelling to league leaders Kilmarnock.
They were motoring along so well early in the game, when Edwards' misplaced header allowed them to steal in behind the home defence, and Scott Tiffoney teed up captain Docherty to bend delightfully beyond Deniz Mehmet.
Their lead evaporated five minutes later, the first of a triple gut-punch delivered by John Hughes' reinvigorated troops. Todd's cross was shanked hideously into the Thistle net by Mayo.
Then Thomas grabbed things by the scruff, proving a constant pest down the left flank. His bamboozling footwork and terrific cross was expertly placed on to the head of Todd, who thundered home.
Thomas was as it again soon after, cutting back for Edwards to drive in the third.
And it should have been 4-1 before the interval when Steven Lawless saw his deflected shot held by Jamie Sneddon at the second attempt.
The new half was less incident-packed, though Kevin O'Hara was booked for diving when the impressive striker hit the deck in the away box.
Thomas put the icing on a juicy Dunfermline cake late on, burning away on the counter and fizzing a left-foot howitzer through Sneddon.
A stoppage-time injury to Lawless was the only blight on the Fife side's evening, and they almost bagged a fifth at the death, Nikolay Todorov rounding Sneddon but trundling too far wide to direct his shot on target.