Plucky Buckie put to sword by Fifers
DUNFERMLINE progressed to the Scottish Cup fourth round after edging out Buckie Thistle 5-3 in a thriller at Victoria Park.
It was a whirlwind start in the north-east as Hamish Munro scored an own goal in the 12th minute only for John McLeod to level for Buckie two minutes later.
The Pars restored their advantage inside two minutes, however, when Michael Paton slotted home a penalty following a foul on Nicky Clark.
The lead, once again, did not last long thanks to a Chris Angus strike which drew the home side level going into the half-time break.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first with three quick goals. The first two went Dunfermline’s way through Kallum Higginbotham’s low strike, which was followed up by Paul McMullan for his first of the day.
The two-goal cushion was short-lived, however, as McLeod struck his second of the afternoon to set up a nervous finish.
The Pars eventually put the game to bed in injury-time when McMullan finished off a quick breakaway.
Elsewhere, Elgin City thrashed Hawick 8-1 despite being pegged back at just 2-0.
Former Inverness striker Shane Sutherland started the rout with a hat-trick in the first 40 minutes, a period which also saw Kris Mitchell score Hawick’s solitary goal.
Elgin asserted their dominance after the restart, firing five unanswered strikes through Chris McLeish and Craig Gunn while Brian Cameron netted twice and Sutherland bagged his fourth of the match.
At Mosset Park, Forres Mechanics held League One strugglers Stenhousemuir to a 2-2 draw to force a replay. Simon Allan put the hosts ahead before a quickfire double from Fraser Kerr and Willis Furtado put Stenny ahead. Lee Fraser rescued a draw for the Highland League side with 25 minutes left.
Mark Wilson’s Airdrie side went down 2-1 to Livingston after goals from Chris Cadden and Danny Mullen cancelled out Andy Ryan’s opener.
Alloa progressed to the fourth round after disposing of Peterhead at Balmoor thanks to a Jamie Longworth strike.
Bonnyrigg Rose will also be in the draw after holding Dumbarton to a goalless draw.