THRILLED Allan Johnston hailed a "real team performance" in Athletic's vital win at Falkirk - and reserved additional praise for two ex-Bairns.

Goalscorers Kallum Higginbotham and Fraser Aird returned to haunt their former employers as they earned Dunfermline a first win at the Falkirk Stadium since 2011.

It was a third win from four league games for the Pars against their bitter rivals this season and ensured they stay third in the table.

Higginbotham, who scored before being sent off in November's 1-1 draw between the teams, opened Dunfermline's account in the first half with a deflected drive before Aird's tap-in from less than six yards doubled their tally four minutes after the break.

After the game, Johnston said: "I'm delighted for Higgy because, in the last game here, he let himself down and let the players down.

"He's made up for it and it was good to see wee Airdy score as well - two ex-Falkirk players with a point to prove, so it's always nice!

"He (Higginbotham) showed a bit of character. He watched his tackles, never went overboard and kept his discipline.

"He's a big player for us and it's no coincidence that the team's fortunes have turned around since he's started playing well again.

"But it was a real team performance; you couldn't really pick out individuals, there was a lot of good performances."

The Pars boss felt his side should have put the game to bed before the Bairns were handed a lifeline with 11 minutes left from the penalty spot.

Nicky Clark was adjudged by referee Don Robertson to have felled Jordan McGhee, although footage of the incident shows that the striker looked to have made contact with the ball.

Aaron Muirhead netted to make it a nervy finish but Johnston continued: "I don't know if it's actually a penalty to be honest with you.

"It looked a wee bit soft and as though Nicky's actually hit the ball off him, but we can't really complain.

"We got the win and and you could see how much it meant to the fans, but now it's on to the next one.

Dunfermline Press:

"It's always good to come to a hard place like Falkirk and get the three points. It's been a hard place to come in the last couple of seasons so we're delighted to get the win in such an important game for us.

"Especially in the first half, I thought we were outstanding with some of the football and the chances we created, but then second half Falkirk threw everything at us and the boys were throwing their bodies in the way, stopping shots.

"We're certainly making it difficult for ourselves in the last 15-20 minutes of games, but credit to the players - you can see they're full of confidence just now.

"You can see with some of the play, first half especially with the chances we created, we could probably have scored another couple of goals that would've made it a lot easier, rather than the way the way we finished the game."

He added: "It's always dangerous when you've only got two (goals) but, to be fair to the boys, this year we've not been losing a lot of goals so you're pretty confident that when you're 2-0 up, you're going to see the game out.

"We've got a wee bit of momentum just now but you can see that there's no easy games in this league; you look at the Dumbarton result, beating Dundee United, so it just shows you you can't get complacent.

"We've got a lot of massive games coming up and we've got to be fully focused because, come off a wee bit in this league and you'll get punished."

Bairns boss Paul Hartley had few complaints about the result and admitted the Pars dominated the first half.

He said: "I'm disappointed. I didn't feel as though we started until we went 2-0 down and then we started to play a little bit, but it was maybe too little too late.

"We didn't play the way I wanted us to play; it's a big game, it's a derby game. We know we're a good footballing team but you've got to be ready for anything that comes your way and the goals we lose are two really poor goals.

"We regroup at half-time and say, look, start the second half better, but we didn't. It wasn't until we went 2-0 down that we started to play.

"You can't afford to let that happen, go 2-0 down in a derby game. They were probably better than us in the first period in the game, and then we came into it and started to play the way we know we can play."