Dunfermline Athletic 1 Hibs 0

An unfortunate Miguel Chaiwa own goal saw Dunfermline snatch victory at the death, as we exited the Scottish Cup.

The substitute knew little about it as Kieran Ngwenya’s late header struck him from behind.

It had been a disappointing performance from us as we missed key opportunities at crucial moments of the Scottish Cup Fourth Round tie.

Despite this, Dunfermline had chances of their own with a strong second-half showing with Raphael Sallinger called into action several times.

David Gray made four changes to his side following our draw with Motherwell last weekend.

Skipper Joe Newell came into the XI and made his first start in over a year whilst Rocky Bushiri, Junior Hoilett and Klidje were the others to come in.

Nicky Cadden and Martin Boyle returned following time on the sidelines due to injury and both were amongst the Hibs bench.

Former Hibs boss, Neil Lennon, resisted the urge to throw in his new signing, Callum Morrison from that start, after he joined the Pars from Linfield yesterday.

This afternoon’s contest was hotly anticipated with over 4,500 Hibees travelling through to Fife and East End Park.

It was also the first competitive meeting of the teams in nine years – ironically, during Lennon’s time in charge of us.

The hosts started by pressing us and were in our faces from the kick-off.  That led to a frantic opening where neither side could get their foot on the ball and retain meaningful possession.

The first opportunities for both teams came via set pieces with Rocky heading straight into Deniz Mehmet’s grateful arms at one end and Nurudeen Abdulai sending a header over the crossbar at the other.

Dunfermline goalkeeper Mehmet had to tip a Jamie McGrath free kick over his crossbar on 14 minutes. The midfielder didn’t appear to be shooting from out wide; however, his overhit ball was potentially sneaking in at the back post and therefore the goalkeeper could take no chances.

Both Newell and McGrath then saw shots blocked on the edge of the Dunfermline box before the hosts put us under pressure through a series of corner kicks.

We suffered a blow on 34 minutes when Josh Mulligan was caught by a late challenge and was unable to continue, with Miguel Chaiwa his replacement.

It was a cagey contest, that perhaps suited the hosts more, as neither side could fashion a clear-cut opportunity.

That changed on 38 minutes when Bowie was guilty of passing up a gilt-edged chance to put us ahead.

The Scotland striker was put clean through on goal by Chaiwa, racing from the halfway line, he only had the goalkeeper to beat but he hesitated too long and allowed Mehmet to save with his legs.

Kieron almost had too long to think about it and perhaps overthought it however, credit should go to the goalkeeper for the save.

The forward would have one more chance to break the deadlock before the interval with a glancing header, only for Mehmet to once more thwart him.

Despite having little by way of goal-scoring opportunities during the first half, Dunfermline started the second period on the front foot and should have been ahead within two minutes.

First, Andy Tod struck a powerful effort that Sallinger had to push away at full stretch before Zak Rudden kept the rebound alive and from his low cross, Tod should have slotted it away.

Charlie Gilmour quickly followed this up with an effort from the edge of our box that was fortuitously deflected high into the air before dropping into Sallinger’s grateful arms.

That opening got the home support on their feet and the atmosphere inside East End Park was electric as Dunfermline again threatened when Matty Todd’s delivery across the face of our goal was only just missed by Rudden sliding in.

After weathering the storm, we started to create ourselves as Hoilett’s rising snapshot had to be tipped over the crossbar by Mehmet.

Gray looked to give us new momentum by putting fresh legs into the midfield and bringing on Nicky Cadden and Dan Barlaser.

Into the final 20 minutes and the game remained in the balance.  Klidjé ran onto a Bowie lay-off only to slam his shot into the side netting as the angle was too tight.

Then, a fantastic pick out from Jordan Obita saw Klidje rise unchallenged in front of goal only for Mehmet to save point-blank.

In between those efforts, Dunfermline substitute Morrison latched onto a quick throw-in, peeled off the left flank and drilled a low shot that Sallinger saved at his near post.

Going into the final ten minutes and Sallinger was called into action to save from Matty Todd as the hosts sensed a famous win.

Mehmet then did well to save from a McGrath rising effort that he must’ve seen late as it came through a ruck of bodies.

In the first of three additional minutes, Rocky gave away a corner kick, Matty Todd’s delivery was met by Kieran Ngwenya’s first-time shot and Sallinger had to acrobatically tip it over his crossbar.

From the resultant corner, the Pars notched a winning goal as Ngwenya’s header struck the back of Chaiwa and crossed the line despite the efforts of Sallinger to keep it out.