My first installment of my series of trips down memory lane starts with what was an absolutely classic match involving Dunfermline and Inverness Caley Thistle in April 2004. The venue was Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen and the prize for the winner was a place in the Scottish Cup Final.
A second encounter was required after a 1-1 stalemate at the National Stadium. Paul Ritchie fired Inverness, then a First Division side, ahead against the Premier League Pars and then missed a golden chance early in the second half. But Jimmy Calderwood’s team recovered and Craig Brewster’s header from Darren Young’s cross earned a Pittodrie replay.
I was still at school, but somehow escaped 10 minutes early from my final class of the day (Chemistry, which I was hopeless at anyway) to head for the match. Changing out of my school uniform into my Pars regalia in the car was quite a challenge, but I made it to Kincardine on time to make my supporters bus heading north.
A crowd of just 5,728 took in the game thanks to the ridiculous decision to take it to Aberdeen but we were rewarded with a fantastic match, one which showcased the beauty of the Scottish Cup throughout Britain. As always, Dunfermline never do things the easy way and despite looking in command early on, fell behind after 6 minutes.
Former Par David Bingham collected the ball and ran into the Athletic half, and his defence splitting ball found that man Ritchie and he made no mistake in slotting past goalkeeper Derek Stillie to give Inverness a dream start. Cue concerned faces from Fifers all round.
Although Inverness went close again through a Steven Hislop header, the Pars levelled on 24 minutes with an excellent goal. The fantastic Brewster sent the ball to Lee Bullen on the left handside, and his cross was met on the volley by Darren Young. Concern turned to joy as “Ole, Ole Ole Ole, We are the Pars, We are the Pars” was belted out from our end.
Dunfermline continued to press and went close through Gary Dempsey and Brewster as the half drew to a close. Though Hislop smacked the bar for Caley in the second half, unbridled joy was felt by the Athletic support as we hit the front. A superb reverse pass from Dempsey released Brewster, who fired past Inverness keeper Mark Brown from a tight angle.
2-1 up and edging closer to Hampden. The fans were becoming nervous, but that disappeared with 12 minutes left. A fantastic individual effort from Barry Nicholson, dancing past three Inverness players before slotting the ball past Brown, made the game safe, sent us Pars fans into ecstasy and drew comparisons with Archie Gemmill’s legendary goal for Scotland against Holland at the Argentina World Cup in 1978.
Though David Bingham netted a last minute penalty for Caley, Dunfermline made it through to their first cup final in my lifetime and since 1968, as well as a European place for the first time since 1970 which was the end of the club’s halycon period. A fantastic game and result, and the celebrations carried on all the way back home into the wee small hours.
Dunfermline Athletic were back, and a truely memorable game it was. It was night which summed up why I support Dunfermline- we may suffer more lows than highs, but when those highs come, they are absolutely fantastic. Although we went on to lose the final 3-1 to Celtic, that semi final was a phenomenal night and will probably live with me for a long time to come.
Match Stats
Inveress Caledonian Thistle: Brown, Tokely (Proctor 85), Mann, McCaffrey, Golabek, McBain, Duncan (Thomson 50), Bingham, Hislop, Keogh, Ritchie (Mackie 86).
Subs not used: Munro, Fraser.
Goals: Ritchie (6), Bingham (pen 89)
Dunfermline Athletic: Stillie, Bullen, Wilson, Skerla, Dempsey (Byrne 67), Da Young, Nicholson, Mason (Labonte 76), De Young, Brewster, Crawford.
Subs not used: Tod, Mehmet, S Y Thomson.
Goals: Da Young (24), Brewster (63), Nicholson (78).
Referee: Hugh Dallas.
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