Aidan Connolly stands dejected after Neil Parry saved his penalty

AFTER 1060 miles, Dunfermline’s Irn Bru Cup campaign was ultimately ended from 12 yards.

Few sides have endured a more gruelling schedule in this tournament than the Pars, with a journey to Inverness followed by a farcical trek to the outskirts of London for a tie against Boreham Wood – in a Scottish domestic competition, let’s remember – in previous rounds.

However, having navigated such a circuitous route to the last-16, it was a home tie against Alloa that proved a bridge too far for Allan Johnston’s men.

A breathless encounter between these Championship rivals ended 2-2 after 90 minutes, with Louis Longridge and Alan Trouten both registering braces, and was decided by penalties – increasingly the Wasps’ specialty.

Jim Goodwin’s men progressed past Dundee United via spot-kicks to reach this stage, scoring every one in the process. They were similarly ruthless in Fife, notching five from five again and ensuring Neil Parry’s save from Aidan Connolly was enough to secure their place in the quarter-final.

“I was always confident when the game went to penalties,” said Goodwin. “The quality of our penalties right now is absolutely fright- ening. I think we’ve scored about 20 in a row! And big Neilly [Parry] does what he does best.

“We have practised penalties in the past, especially in the build-up to the play-offs last year, when it’s something you need to be ready for, but it’s not something we do a lot of. It just shows the bottle my boys have. They have a lot of self-belief and are a very confident bunch. That’s what’ll keep us up.”

Alloa took just five minutes to break the deadlock, with Jon Robertson surging into the box before delivering a superb cut-back to Trouten, whose ferocious drive ricocheted against Lee Ashcroft and nestled in the net.

A fine Lee Robinson save was required to deny Kevin Cawley as the Wasps displayed admirable attacking intent in the early stages.

However, Louis Longridge stepped up with a desperately needed moment of magic for the Pars. The former Hamilton man picked up the ball around 30 yards from goal and, courtesy of a classy pirouette, worked the space to curl a magnificent effort beyond the helpless Parry.

There would be no repeat of Dunfermline’s sluggish start to the first period as they claimed the lead within minutes of the restart. Louis Longridge was sent through on goal and saw his dinked effort hit the post, only to be brought down by Liam Dick as he readied himself to slot home the rebound.

Referee Nick Walsh pointed to the spot and Longridge himself stepped up to slide his second of the game past Parry. However, much like their manager, Alloa are nothing if not resolute and Jim Goodwin’s men would not go down without a fight. They hit back with 20 minutes remaining as on-loan Hearts winger Dario Zanatta hit the byline to produce a superb ball across goal for Trouten to slam home.

With neither side able to claim a winning goal, the contest was decided from the penalty spot and Connolly – the son of Alloa assistant manager Paddy – was the only man to endure failure.

“It’s disappointing for Aidan,” said Pars boss Johnston. “But it should never have got to that stage. It was one way traffic.”