The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
McMullan making most of Pars move
A second-half penalty from Kallum Higginbotham helped Dunfermline to a well-earned draw against title favourites Hibernian at a packed East End Park.
Their hopes of reaching the play-offs have all but evaporated but the Pars, having suffered only one defeat in their last seven league games, have a fifth-place finish firmly in their sights.
“We’re just three points behind Queen of the South and we’ve got a game in hand,” said midfielder Paul McMullan afterwards.
“We’ve been playing really well over the past couple of months and getting some good results, so hopefully we can catch them.
“Maybe if we’d started the season better we’d be looking at the play-offs at this stage, but its just a case now of aiming as high as we can.”
John McGinn opened the scoring for Hibs after 12 minutes, driving a low shot past Sean Murdoch from 25 yards out.
McMullan had a chance to level the scores but his angular effort was blocked by Hibs keeper Ofir Marciano.
Calum Morris saw his powerful header tipped over by Marciano as the Pars pushed for an equaliser.
They were fortunate not to fall further behind in the early stages of the second half when Brian Graham sent the ball wide from three yards out after being set up by Jason Cummings.
The home side regained parity in controversial circumstances just before the hour when referee Greg Aitken pointed to the penalty spot after adjudging that Lewis Stevenson had handled McMullan’s strike.
Higginbotham drove the ball home with his customary panache to secure a valuable point.
“Stevenson’s hands were in the air when I kicked the ball,” said McMullan. “Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t but we certainly weren’t complaining about the decision.
“I didn’t think there was much between the teams in the first half. They scored a good goal to go ahead but we knew if we kept playing the chance would come, and eventually it came with the penalty,” he said.
“Hibs had chances, too. But, in the end, a point each was a fair outcome.”
McMullan, outstanding for Dunfermline since joining on loan from Celtic last summer, made his debut for the Scotland Under-21 side in Tuesday’s goalless draw against Estonia.
He acknowledged that the exposure he has received since joining the Fifers has helped him to gain recognition of this kind.
“Moving to Dunfermline has been good for me,” he said.
“It’s nice to be recognised at international level.
“I really enjoyed the experience of playing for the Under-21s and, now I’ve had a taste of it, I’m desperate to be involved when the European Championship qualifiers start in September.”