Edinburgh City 1 PARS 2, Scottish Cup, third round
Dapo Mebude's first Athletic goal and Matty Todd's second half strike sent Dunfermline into the fourth round of the Scottish Cup at the expense of Edinburgh City.
James McPake's side are into the hat for Monday evening's draw after earning victory at the League Two side, despite conceding a stoppage time penalty that was converted by Connor Young.
The result also saw the Pars earn a third win in four outings, in all competitions, and whilst their manager was pleased to progress, he felt it should have been a more comprehensive victory.
"It should have been more comfortable than it was," he said post-match.
"I said that to the players in there. There have been games where we’ve lost, and said that we maybe should have won, with the chances created. Today it was another one of them.
"I think we had a lot of good chances. The goalie obviously had two really good saves - the one that he saves and Josh Cooper puts over the bar, and then the one from Matthew (Todd). It would have been a great goal.
"But we got ourselves in front early on, too early to say deservedly so, but then I think you get that second goal and we were in complete control of the game. I don’t think Tobi (Oluwayemi) had an awful lot to do.
"It’s a team two divisions below you, they’re going to throw everything at it. They get a penalty but there’s not enough time in it.
"In terms of that, job done. We’re in the draw for the next round."
Dunfermline made the ideal start to the match when they took a sixth minute lead.
Oluwayemi's long pass found Cooper on the right hand side and, after he raced forward, he sent a low cross into the penalty area where Mebude slid home his first professional goal since netting for AFC Wimbledon in September 2021.
The Pars continued to press, with Cooper having an 18-yard shot deflected wide, before missing the target from inside the box after being picked out by Kane Ritchie-Hosler.
The away team created an even better opportunity when a Mebude header from Todd's centre was well saved by Weir, with Cooper lashing the rebound over the bar.
Edinburgh, though, served notice of their threat when Innes Lawson fired wide from distance, before a Sam Jones effort was spilled by Oluwayemi before being cleared to safety, and then Quinn Mitchell forced the Pars keeper into a save.
Shortly after the restart, Young sent a shot wide for City after a clearing Kyle Benedictus header dropped for him, before Oluwayemi showed outstanding reflexes to save Lawson's header at the far post after Jon Robertson picked him out.
Ritchie-Hosler had a shot deflected wide, whilst Todd saw one blocked, and David Wotherspoon had one saved, before Dunfermline gave themselves breathing space with 18 minutes to go.
Mebude was involved, breaking forward and passing into Todd, who took a few steps forward before firing a shot, with the aid of a deflection, into the net from around 20 yards.
However, it came too late for Edinburgh to try and force extra time, and Dunfermline go into the fourth round draw, which will include sides from the top flight.
"I'm just glad I'm in it," McPake said of the draw.
"We'll see Monday night when the draw comes in. I've been frustrated with myself really, in my time here. In this cup, we've not really had a run at all of any sort, so that's the first hurdle done.
"We now see who we draw on Monday night and then we'll move on to the next game. In terms of the cup, that gets put to the side, and we look forward to the next game."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here