Stenhousemuir FC v Dunfermline Athletic

 

Whether this game should have taken place at all is debatable but take place it did. The events leading up to the game were of Dunfermline winning the first match 7-1, followed by their disqualification for a number of breaches of SFA rules and their subsequent reinstatement following an appeal albeit to play the tie again at Ochilview to a finish. It has to be admitted that the first game was an embarrassing performance by Stenhousemuir and the players were probably in some ways happy to show that they were not as poor as that game suggested.

 

Dunfermline admitted their guilt over the breaches including the inclusion of suspended player Callum Woods in their squad but said that it was an honest mistake and that the punishment did not fit the crime. The appeals tribunal agreed with this but I feel that as in the original statement of the SFA that the integrity of the competition has been damaged as there is no excuse for playing a suspended player. It was stated that this was an honest mistake and whilst that will be the case does any team deliberately play a suspended player on the off chance that they get away with it. Personally speaking and this is not the view of the club, I feel that the whole question of cup suspensions being carried forward to the following season should be looked at. I also feel that the rules should be redrafted so that any team playing a suspended player should be automatically thrown out of that season’s competition and if it is proved to be a deliberate action to be barred from the following one as well and therefore there would be no thoughts on whether monetary matters should be taken into account. This is not a case of sour grapes as I would have felt the same if Stenhousemuir had been the culprits say in the previous round after the comprehensive win over Cove Rangers.

 

Anyway with the media circus watching with more interest in a Stenhousemuir game it was a chance for the Stenhousemuir players to do themselves justice.    After the humiliation in the first game and a lacklustre performance against Alloa on the Saturday before this game there were fears amongst the Stenhousemuir support that this could be another drubbing. These fears were to be allayed though from the first kick of the ball as the team came out fighting never giving Dunfermline a chance to settle down. The Pars as a consequence struggled to get into the tempo of the game that they wanted and it was the home side that almost opened the scoring in the 9^th minute when Lee Currie drilled a freekick just wide. Andy Kirk saw a curling effort go just past the post in the 12^th minute and this was followed swiftly by a David Graham run and shot across the goal that flashed past the post. These though were sporadic attacks by Dunfermline and the cries from the Pars bench indicated in no uncertain terms that the management felt that the players needed to get their finger out as they were second best in most of the play. Greg Fleming was called into action in the 25^th minute to deny Scott Dalziel who had latched onto a loose ball and although he managed to get his effort on target he was denied by the keeper’s legs. From nowhere Dunfermline took the lead in the 35^th minute when Joe Cardle created an opening with good footwork before dispatching the ball past Chris McCluskey. It was always going to be interesting to se how the Warrior’s reacted to this setback and it was in a positive fashion with Dalziel having a header saved by Fleming.  Just before the half ended Dunfermline almost doubled their lead when Nick Phinn volleyed just wide from close range.

 

The second half saw few opportunities for either team in the opening stages and it took until the 63^rd minute before any real chance was created with Dalziel heading a Kevin Bradley freekick just wide. The Warriors were awarded a penalty three minutes later when referee Bobby Madden spotted Graeme Bell pulling a jersey in the box and awarded a penalty that Bradley duly converted, As expected Dunfermline were the stronger team in the latter stages of the game but they came closest to breaking the deadlock through a Willie Gibson power driver  that McCluskey somehow managed to stop. With no scoring before the 90 minutes though the game went into extra time. With the Warriors having gave so much effort it was a case of whether Dunfermline would take advantage of tired legs in the home ranks. The Fifers eventually took the lead in the 110^th minute when a mishit Andy Kirk effort sneaked in at the post but there was a touch of offside about the goal as there was a Dunfermline forward trying to steer the ball in from almost the goal line. Nevertheless the goal stood and although the Warriors tried hard to get back into the game the closest that they came to doing so was from a Craig Molloy effort in the last minute.

 

The final whistle blew with Dunfermline being the victors and going into a lucrative tie against Celtic in the next round. Still, at least the Warriors had restored pride and will hope to take this type of performance into their league campaign.