DUNFERMLINE finally showed their teeth at the expense of part-timers Ayr United after a run of four league defeats.
But their fans had to wait until the second half for the goals which decided the points, through Andy Kirk who was celebrating his Northern Ireland recall, quickly followed by a Willie Gibson double.
The first half was closely contested. Dunferml
ine front man David Graham had a shot blocked by goalkeeper Craig Samson, while Ayr star Kenny Connolly's right foot shot from outside the box just curled past goalkeeper Greg Fleming's left hand post.
Connolly's drive from the left flank then produced an instinctive stop by Fleming.
Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre made his first change at half time, bringing on Callum Woods for Scott Muirhead.
Kirk did have the ball in the net but was ruled offside by referee Dougie McDonald.
Pars, however, broke the deadlock in the 54th minute following Kirk's angled drive from Willie Gibson's cross and within the space of 60 seconds Gibson wrote his name on the scoresheet thanks to a deflected drive into the corner of the net.
With a bit of luck Graham could have made it 3-0, but he was desperately unlucky as his 20-yarder cannoned off the base of the post. The third, however, did not take long to come when Gibson drilled the ball home from 12 yards.
Ayr skipper Chris Aitken pulled one back from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to go, but it was all too late.
