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Monthly Digest - October 2002

International call ups are received by Stevie Crawford, for the Scotland games against Iceland and Canada, Andrius Skerla, for the Lithuanian games against the Faroe Isles and Iceland, and Gary Dempsey for the Irish U21 game against Switzerland.
Chairman John Yorkston outlines the aims of the new call centre. The staff of five Pars fans will be calling lapsed season ticket holders to try and establish what can be done to make them return to East End Park.
           
Date: 5th October 2002 Opposition: Partick Thistle Score (H/T): 4-1 (1-1)
Competition: Sc Premier League Venue East End Park Attendance: 5,522
Scorer: [1-0] Thomson (27), [1-1] Mitchell (61 pen), [2-1] Nicholson (68), [3-1] Crawford (79), [4-1] Crawford (90)
Yellow Cards: Craigen (Partick)
Red Card: Lilley (Partick)
Pars Team: Ruitenbeek; MacPherson (Petrie 76), Skerla, Thomson, Nicholls (McGroarty 64), Dempsey (Dair 58), Nicholson, Mason, Kilgannon, Bullen, Crawford. Subs not used: Stillie, Walker.
Partick Thistle: Arthur; Lilley, Archibald, Craigan, Paterson, Whyte, Mitchell (Waddell 76), Buchan (Morris 89), Walker (Britton 75), Hardie, Burns. Subs not used: Milne, McDermott
Referee: H Dallas
Good result, good goals, terrible game! The first half was a complete non-event, save for a spectacular Scott Thomson free-kick from outside the box, that rifled into the top corner of Arthur's net. Derek Lilley was sent off ten minutes into the second half for a horrendous tackle that saw Gary Dempsey hobble away on crutches. Partick then found themselves gifted a penalty after Sean Kilgannon needlessly handled in the box. Mitchell converted. Dunfermline took the lead when an excellent MacPherson cross found Nicholson's head to give the Thistle keeper no chance. From then on in it was all Athletic, with Stevie Crawford scoring two superb goals. The first was an excellent solo effort having taken the ball from midfield to shoot home from the edge of the box. The fourth and final goal came after Crawford skilfully beat his man after collecting the ball in the box from Jason Dair. 
Pos   Pld W D L F A Pts
2 Celtic 10 8 1 1 25 6 25
3 Dunfermline Ath 10 6 0 4 19 19 18
4 Hearts 10 4 5 1 19 11 17
With Hearts drawing their match against Livingston, the Pars move up a place into third.
Gary Dempsey will miss out on his Irish U21 cap call-up after being injured by Derek Lilley's x-rated tackle in the match against Thistle. The midfielder is likely to be out for two to six weeks.
The Under 21 team are heavily beaten 5-0 by Celtic at Broomfield.
Stewart Petrie's testimonial dinner takes place at the Keavil House Hotel, Crossford.
Stevie Crawford has an excellent game as Scotland win 2-0 in Iceland. Dailly and Naysmith score. Three days later, and Stevie Crawford scores two goals as Scotland beat Canada in a friendly at Easter Road, 3-1. Steven Thomson scores Scotland's other goal. Crawford becomes the first Pars player for 81 years to score for Scotland.
The Pars other internationalist, Andrius Skerla plays in both of his country's games, with mixed results. A 2-0 win at home to the Faroes, is followed by a 3-0 away defeat to Iceland.
With Nipper Thomson out injured following a training ground injury, man of the moment, Stevie Crawford dons the captain's armband for the game against Kilmarnock. 
           
Date: 19th October 2002 Opposition: Kilmarnock Score (H/T): 2-2 (1-0)
Competition: Sc Premier League Venue Rugby Park Attendance: 5,515
Scorer: [1-0] Brewster (43), [1-1] Shields (49), [2-1] Bullen (58), [2-2] Boyd (76)
Cards: Wilson, McGroarty (DAFC), Marshall (Kilmarnock)
Pars Team: Ruitenbeek; MacPherson, Skerla (Nicholls 68), Wilson, Bullen, Dempsey (Dair 90), Nicholson, Mason, McGroarty, Brewster, Crawford. Subs not used: Stillie, Kilgannon, Hampshire 
Kilmarnock: Marshall; Dindeleux (Murray H/T), Innes, McLaughlin, Shields, Fulton, McDonald (Quitongo H/T), Locke, Hay, McSwegan (Boyd 73), Boutal. Subs not used: Meldrum, Sanjuan
Referee: I Fyfe
If a draw had been on offer before the game, no doubt it would have been readily accepted, but having lead twice, and conceded two unsatisfactory goals, the single point gained was a disappointing outcome. DA took the lead after Dempsey found Brewster at the corner of the penalty box to shoot home. The Kilmarnock equaliser just after half time, had fluke written all over it. Former Par Greg Shields misshit a cross from the right, which found goalkeeper Ruitenbeek off his line. Having been caught out of position, Ruitenbeek desperately attempted to touch the ball round the post, but only succeeded in knocking it into the net. The Pars were then given an excellent opportunity to regain the lead, when Marshall upended Dempsey in the box. Lee Bullen took the penalty, but his low shot to the corner of the goal was easily saved by the Killie keeper. Bullen made amends six minutes later, when he smacked home a loose ball to restore the lead. Unfortunately there was to be no third away victory of the season for the Athletic, as the Pars were caught out in 76 minutes from a corner, when Kris Boyd knocked home a loose ball that the defence had failed to clear.   
Pos   Pld W D L F A Pts
2 Celtic 11 9 1 1 29 7 28
3 Dunfermline Ath 11 6 1 4 21 21 19
4 Hearts 11 4 5 2 20 15 17
It's sensational news when the Pars announce they are in signing talks with Nigerian International Taribo West. The former AC/Inter Milan, Derby County and Kaiserslautern player spent the Tuesday before the Falkirk game at East End Park talking to chairman John Yorkston and manager Jimmy Calderwood. Yorkston was hopeful of concluding the deal.
           
Date: 22nd October 2002 Opposition: Falkirk Score (H/T): 2-0 (1-0)
Competition: CIS League Cup Venue East End Park Attendance: 6,933
Scorer: [1-0] Crawford (2), [2-0] Crawford (78)
Cards: Samuel (Falkirk)
Pars Team: Ruitenbeek; McPherson (Dair 49), Wilson, Thomson, McGroarty (Walker 68); Bullen, Nicholson, Dempsey (Nicholls 72), Mason, Crawford, Brewster. Subs not used: Stillie, Petrie
Falkirk: Ferguson, Rennie, McQuilken, McKenzie, Hughes, James, Kerr, Miller (McPherson 72), Coyle, Samuel, Tosh (Rodgers 80). Subs not used: Henry, Cringean, Hill
Referee: W Young
Despite potential fears about a cup upset, Dunfermline defeated their fierce rivals Falkirk, with comparative ease. DA took the lead in just two minutes, when Brewster cleverly found his strike partner Crawford, who shot past Ferguson in the Falkirk goal. On a miserable night the Bairns had their chances, and Coyle should have equalised when he found himself alone facing Ruitenbeek, but put the ball into the goalie's hands. With just ten minutes remaining Nicholson broke through from the half way line, catching the Bairns defence out. Running in on goal he selflessly passed to Crawford with just the keeper to beat, giving the Scotland striker his second goal of the night, and puttnig the game out of reach of the visitors.
 
Despite his team winning against Falkirk, manager Calderwood is less than happy with his team's performance. 
Taribo West trains with the players not involved in the game against Falkirk, before returning to Milan where he currently lives. The chairman seems reasonably confident that a deal can be struck which won't be upset the club's wage structure. 
The Pars reward for beating Faklirk in the CIS Cup, is a Quarter Final tie at home to Rangers. The match will be shown live on Channel Five television. 
With Gus MacPherson out injured, Andre Karnebeek comes into the team for the Celtic game, to make his first start of the season.
           
Date: 27th October 2002 Opposition: Celtic Score (H/T): 1-4 (0-2)
Competition: Sc Premier League Venue East End Park Attendance: 9,139
Scorer: [0-1] Larsson (25), [0-2] Thompson (32), [1-2] Brewster (56), [1-3] Petrov (74), [1-4] Sutton (84).
Cards: Larsson (Celtic)
Pars Team: Ruitenbeek; Bullen, Skerla, Wilson, Walker, Karnebeek (McGroarty 65); Nicolson, Thomson, Dempsey (Hampshire 71), Nicholson, Crawford, Brewster. Subs not used: Mason, Nicholls.
Celtic: Gould; Balde, Valgaaren, Laurson, Agathe (Sylla 86), Lennon, Lambert (Hartson 76), Thompson; Petrov (Maloney 86); Larsson, Sutton. Subs not used: Marshall, Crainey
Referee: D McDonald
Despite another disappointing result against an Old Firm team in a televised game, this was an encouraging performance from the Pars. Up until Celtic scored their opener, Dunfermline more than matched them, and were unlucky not to have taken the lead. The first goal came as a result of a defence splitting pass from Petrov which found Larsson, who slipped the ball past a wrong footed Ruitenbeek. Number two came seven minutes later, when Thompson shot home at an angle from just outside the box. Dunfermline managed to get back into the game early into the second half, when Brewster beat Gould to a high ball to head home. Any hopes of a comeback were dashed 18 minutes later when a Scott Thomson slip lead to the ball reaching Petrov, who netted from 8 yards. The damage was completed with six minutes remaining, when Sutton rounded Ruitenbeek to score.
Pos   Pld W D L F A Pts
2 Celtic 12 10 1 1 33 8 31
3 Dunfermline Ath 12 6 1 5 22 25 19
4 Hibernian 12 6 0 6 17 19 18
After the Celtic game, John Yorkston admits that any deal with Taribo West is off. The player's demands, including time away to attend to his parish in Milan, plus numerous add-ons, were considered far too great, and it was felt that there was the potential for him to become a disruptive influence in the changing room. The chairman was also keen not to have a repeat of the Rossi situation on his hands. Despite the rejection, the player reportedly said he was still keen to play for Dunfermline. 
Dunfermline's Under 21 team lose 4-5 to Dundee United at Tannadice in a nine goal thriller. Jason Dair (2), Gary Mason and Kevin McLeish were the scorers.
As a result of the Rangers game being played on the Thursday night, the match against Dundee originally scheduled for the Saturday has been moved to the following Tuesday evening. 
Misfit Youssef Rossi is reported to be training with his old club Raja Casablanca, with a view to signing for the Moroccan outfit.
The Pars are considering an offer to take part in a tournament in Turkey during the winter break. 

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