Football

Dunfermline 0-0 Falkirk (Dunfermline won 4-2 on pens): The Pars into Scottish Cup final after dramatic penalty shootout win at Hampden Park

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By Admin
Sports Journalist
Dunfermline 0-0 Falkirk (Dunfermline won 4-2 on pens): The Pars into Scottish Cup final after dramatic penalty shootout win at Hampden Park

Dunfermline Athletic moved one step closer to a first Scottish Cup triumph since 1968 with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over bitter rivals Falkirk in the semi-finals at Hampden Park.

In a match which lacked quality and yielded few chances, Tashan Oakley-Boothe dispatched the decisive spot-kick to fire Neil Lennon's Championship outfit into the final after knocking out Premiership opposition once again.

Hibernian, Aberdeen and now Falkirk have all been beaten by the Pars, who ultimately held their nerve when it mattered to net all four penalties in front of the Falkirk fans.

Lennon, who has won this competition four times as a player and four times as a manager with Celtic, could now face his former boss Martin O'Neill on 23 May - if last year's beaten finalists beat League Cup holders St Mirren on Sunday at 2pm.

Fewer than two minutes into the game, Callumn Morrison should have given Dunfermline a shock lead.

The ex-Falkirk attacker, who was booed and jeered all afternoon by those who once adored him, found himself one-on-one with Scott Bain but he lashed his untidy effort wide of the target.

Morrison's lung-busting run before a rushed attempt at a finish was symptomatic of the match which would follow; plenty of heart, guts and energy, but very little quality.

Falkirk controlled the remainder of the first half but were limited to deep hopeful crosses as Barney Stewart and Filip Lissah came closest with headed opportunities.

But there wasn't another sight of goal for either side until Ben Broggio's curling effort after a sweeping Falkirk counter-attack went six inches wide in the 73rd minute; and that would be it for regulation time.

Beyond the 90, Kyrell Wilson and Dylan Tait spurned three half-chances between them before Dunfermline passed up their second and third gilt-edged opportunities of the game shortly after the restart in extra-time.

Teenage substitute Lucas Fyfe pounced on a Connor Allan error to give him the entire goal to aim at, but the 17-year-old rolled his tame effort right into the body of Falkirk's static stopper Scott Bain.

Then just one minute later, Fyfe arguably missed an even bigger chance to write him name into history when his close-range first-time strike cannoned off the crossbar.

Ethan Ross and Brian Graham then threatened again at the other end before Falkirk substitute Henry Cartwright was shown a second yellow card for simulation in the dying seconds.

Ultimately, though, this game was destined to be decided by a spot-kicks.

Falkirk captain Brad Spencer and Liam Henderson missed their first two penalties, so the 2015 finalists were immediately on the back foot.

Josh Cooper, Charlie Gilmour and Chris Hamilton all emphatically converted while Filip Lissah and Ben Parkinson gave Falkirk a fighting chance.

However, the two misses gave Oakley-Boothe the opportunity to win it on the fourth kick, and that he did.

Dunfermline will return to Hampden for their first Scottish Cup final since 2007, where current manager Lennon played his final game as a Celtic player.

And yes, he did his trademark airplane celebration to mark the occasion.

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