Unpaid but unbowed, Jim Jefferies continues to reign in the Kingdom of Fife.
The Dunfermline Athletic manager enjoyed a fine record in Edinburgh derbies, particularly in his second spell at Hearts, and he appears to have brought that Midas touch across the Forth.
Yesterday's Fife derby was far from pretty, or emphatic, with the ratio of inspiration to perspiration weighed heavily towards the latter. However Jefferies, in a 45-year career in the game, has generally made something of a speciality of grinding out telling victories.
Ultimately one stunning delivery, allied by an emphatic headed finish by Andy Geggan, was enough to secure a 1-0 victory.
"It was a really important win for us," said Jefferies. "We are now level [on 33 points] with Partick Thistle and two behind leaders Morton, but we are right back in the hunt."
A Geggan shot from 30 yards which trickled lamentably wide was indicative of a Dunfermline side which was rapidly running out of ideas in the face of the deep, suffocating 4-5-1 employed by the visitors in the first half.
Thankfully, the fare on show improved after the break. Within minutes of the restart, Dunfermline's Ryan Wallace fizzed a shot in from the edge of the area which skewed off target, before Shaun Byrne fired a volley over the top.
With a tepid encounter finally threaten to rouse from its slumber, Brian Graham should have given Rovers the lead, but he miscued a header from point-blank range. Andy Kirk was then guilty of a similar profligacy, shooting over the bar from close range following a superb delivery from Joe Cardle.
The pressure – territorially, if not in terms of clear-cut chances – from the home side finally told with 20 minutes to play. Josh Falkingham delivered a sumptuous cross from the right flank for Geggan to power home a header from six yards.
"I thought we defended well as a team for most of the match," said Rovers manager Grant Murray. "But the fact of the matter is we were the ones that conceded and we took nothing from it."
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