The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Pars midfielder has mixed emotions
Dunfermline: McMullan delighted by goal but left to rue missed opportunity
Dunfermline midfielder Paul McMullan was delighted to keep up his record of scoring in every William Hill Scottish Cup round, but was left cursing the miss that allowed Hamilton to earn a replay.
The on-loan Celtic playmaker netted on the half-hour in Saturday’s fifth-round clash with a composed finish but wasted a chance to bury the tie after the break.
McMullan latched on to Accies captain Michael Devlin’s mistake but his tame effort drifted just past the post with only goalkeeper Remi Matthews to beat.
Pars pair Michael Moffat and Kallum Higginbothan also failed to find the net from good openings, and the Premiership outfit climbed off the ropes to set up a replay tomorrow after Danny Redman scored a 75th-minute equaliser.
Pars manager Allan Johnston was left lamenting those missed chances afterwards, and McMullan admits he should have done better.
He said: “I just got caught in a couple of minds and I made a mess of it.”
Dunfermline thought they should have been on the scoresheet even before McMullan opened the scoring after referee Craig Thomson ruled out Callum Morris’s 29th minute header at a corner for an infringement on goalkeeper Remi Matthews.
“I’ve seen it again, it’s very soft,” said manager Johnston. “I think it was for a block by Michael Moffat on the goalkeeper but there was nothing there, it was very, very minimal.”
McMullan scored seconds later when he took Moffat’s pass in his stride and raced clear before clipping the ball past Matthews.
Redmond levelled in the 75th minute when he was allowed to stroll into the box unchallenged before curling a leftfooted shot into the far corner.
Despite failing to make the most of home advantage, McMullan is confident the Championship club can see off Accies at the Superseal stadium.
He said: “Nobody got pass marks in the game the previous week in the defeat to Falkirk. Nobody could look at themselves and say they were great.
“But the manager stuck with the majority of us who played in that game and told us to go and prove that we’re better than that, and that’s what we did out there.”
Underfoot conditions were difficult on a soggy East End Park pitch, and McMullan insists that the Hamilton synthetic surface will pose no problems.
He added: “It doesn’t bother me, to be honest. I would rather play on a plastic pitch rather than some of the mud at East End Park.
“The pitch was OK at the start but as the game goes on it starts to get a bit messy, and it’s hard for the groundsman. We see him working on it every day. He’s done the best job he can.”
“I just got caught in a couple of minds and I made a mess of it. PAUL MCMULLAN