A penalty goal midway through the second half gave the Pars a narrow win which saw them move above us on goal difference in the battle to avoid the play –off spot.
With Dunfermline having to field quite a few members of their under 20 squad it was perhaps ironic that their goal scorer came through the Cowden youth ranks after being released by the Pars as a schoolboy.
There was one change to the side which had beaten Raith Rovers the previous week with Craig Moore returning to the line -up at the expense of Kyle Miller who dropped to the bench.
After a five minute delay to allow the crowd in at the home end the game eventually got underway and Moore broke into the home box but the danger was cleared by Young.
With five minutes gone the Pars won the first corner of the afternoon which was sent into the Cowden box by Millen which caused a flurry with Thomson eventually slotting the ball home but the far side assistant referee had his flag up for offside.
Soon after Husband fired in a long range free kick which drifted wide of the post while Flynn denied Falkingham.
With 20 minutes gone Cameron picked up the first yellow card of the afternoon for a foul on Falkingham.
Eleven minutes from the break Falkingham also went into referee McLean’s book when he was judged to have dived after a tackle in the box from O’Brien.
At the other end Stewart went on a surging run but his 16 yard shot was held by Hrivnak and soon after Stevenson sent a long range free kick over the bar.
While as the opening 45 minutes came to a close Byrne almost scored in bizarre fashion when a Flynn clearance bounced off him and flew just wide of the Cowden goal.
The start of the second half saw Hrivnak dive at the feet of Moore within seconds of the restart with the keeper launching the ball up the park to Smith whose shot was parried by Flynn who then saved Thomson’s rebound.
Flynn then denied Kane while Moore and Stewart both came close at the other end.
The decisive moment of the game came in 67 minutes when Miller, who had replaced Cameron, clipped Smith in the box.
Stephen Husband, who had missed from the spot on our last visit to East End Park, made no mistake battering the ball down the middle of the goal and although Flynn got a hand to the ball be couldn’t keep it out.
Dunfermline then added the experienced Potter to their defence to hang onto the points while we were dealt a blow when Stewart went off with an ankle injury.
As the game came to an end Miller had a shot at the home goal but his effort was held by the keeper.