Dunfermline's winning run comes to an end against Dundee United

ALL good things must come to an end as Dundee United brought Dunfermline's winning run to an abrupt halt.

It wasn't pretty, but Robbie Neilson's men grounded out a 1-0 win thanks to Peter Pawlett's solo run and strike in the first half.

Ryan Scully was in inspired form to thwart United on numerous occasions but his efforts proved to be in vain.

He was the busiest of the two keepers as the visitors enjoyed the game's best chances with Pawlett's effort enough to take the three points back to Dundee.

The Pars were first to threaten through Louis Longridge as his low drive from outside the box stung the palms of Benjamin Siegrist, with the keeper alert to prevent Bruce Anderson from prodding in the opener on the rebound.

It was a cagey opener, albeit marred slightly by referee Euan Anderson, who consistently blew his whistle for soft infringements.

As a result, the game struggled to flow until the home support were stunned into silence as they witnessed their side's defence concede for the first time since the first weekend of February.

After having enjoyed a five-match winning run with clean sheets in every game, it was a sight they hadn't seen for a while.

Pavol Safranko was proving to be a handful for Lee Ashcroft and the centre-back was struggling in the air against the Slovakian international.

It was the striker's success in the air over Ashcroft that resulted in Robbie Nielson's side taking the lead.

His downward header fell into the stride of Pawlett who raced clear of Danny Devine. He made it to the byline unchallenged where he was then able to prod the ball between the advancing Scully and his near post on 24 minutes.

Scully has been a pair of safe hands since arriving back for his second spell at East End Park and he showed immense reflexes to deny United with three excellent saves in the space of a minute.

He had to firstly dive low to his left after a snap-shot from Pawlett on the turn, before he made himself big to deny Callum Butcher and Safranko's shots inside the box.

At the other end Anderson was having a frustrating time against United's defence in the first half but he thought a golden chance had presented itself on 34 minutes when he robbed Mark Reynolds of possession on the edge of his own box. However, the referee blew for a foul on the defender much to the anger of home fans.

Scully's evening was proving to be a busy one as once again he had to bail the Pars out with a smart save at his near post to deny United doubling their tally before the interval.

United started the second half like they ended the first as Safranko made his presence felt once again.

He capitalised on a poor clearance and let fly with a half volley from left-hand side of the penalty box which required yet another save from Scully round his front post.

Mark Reynolds was next to threaten from a corner as he rose highest to glance his header off the crossbar and over on 67 minutes.

The game filtered out with very little action as the Tangerines controlled the tempo and limited Stevie Crawford's men to speculative shots from distance.

It was a sorry end to Dunfermline's winning run as attention now turns to Friday night's clash with Ayr United as they visit East End Park.

PARS: Scully, Craigen, Devine, Ashcroft, J.Longridge, Beadling, Thomson, Blair (Todd 77), Higginbotham (El Bakhtaoui 67) , L.Longridge (Hippolyte 82), Anderson.

Subs not used: Gill, Williamson, Durnan, Vincent.
Booked: Devine, L.Longridge

Dundee United: Siegrist, Seaman (Watson 85), Bouhenna, Reynolds, Booth, McMullan (Clark 77), Butcher, Harkes, Robson, Pawlett (Stanton 67), Safranko.

Subs not used: Laidlaw, Fyvie, Gomis, Nesbitt.
Booked: Robson
Goal: Pawlett (24)

Referee: Euan Anderson
Attendance: 6,096