Dunfermline Athletic vs Stenhousemuir

The Warriors finished off their Premier Sports Cup campaign with a trip to Fife to face Premiership promotion hopefuls Dunfermline. The matched proved to be too tough a test for the boys as the Pars ran out 4-1 winners, securing their progression to the knockout stages.

The game was played on a glorious afternoon in front of 1,500 supporters at East End Park. The home side started the brightest and were in the lead after 15 minutes as Wighton was played through on goal before lifting the ball over the onrushing David Wilson for 1-0.

Shortly afterwards Wedderburn came close against his old side as his volley just flew over the opposition bar. Wilson then pulled off an excellent save with his feet to keep the boys within touching distance.

Despite this, Wilson and the Warriors will be disappointed with the manner in which Dunfermline got their second. In the 36^th minute, Wilson’s clearance struck Jamieson only to fall into the path of Todorov, who squared to former Warrior O’Hara for a tap in.

The Pars consequently piled on the pressure before half time and made it 3-0 on 44 minutes after an O’Hara cross caused a goalmouth scramble in which Wighton was able to bundle the ball over the line.

Our hosts then started the second half in similar vein and it wasn’t long before they had their 4^th as an Edwards knock down from a cross fell to O’Hara 6 yards out before he dispatched a shot past Wilson.

Credit has to be given to the Warriors for not crumbling at this stage, as they began to come into the came a bit more. We were able to respond with a goal of our own in the 67^th minute after Lyons was able to get to the by-line and cut the ball back for Thomson to turn home from close range.

Many in the ground then thought the Warriors might have been given a penalty after a Lyons mazy run ended with him going down in the box, only for the referee to instead book the youngster for simulation.

A very tough game for the boys against a strong opposition, however it was a test that this new squad will be able to learn from. Attention now turns to our league opener on Saturday.

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