Dunfermline’s Liam Buchanan says the Pars players were left utterly devastated after surrendering a two-goal lead with just 10 minutes remaining.
The Dons looked dead and buried when Buchanan came off the bench and netted just seconds later with his first touch as he pounced on a parried Paddy Boyle shot to make the score 3-1.
But Alex Keddie gifted the Dons a lifeline in the 80th minute with a hapless headed own goal at a corner, before Aberdeen’s previously profligate Josh Magennis cashed in on slack defending at a throw-in to hit home from the edge of the Pars penalty area.
The result means the frustrated Dunfermline fans are still waiting to celebrate their first home league win since the long-awaited return to the SPL, something Buchanan and the rest of the Pars squad are all too aware of.
He said: ”It was my first touch when I scored. I dropped back a bit when Paddy hit it, the goalie saved it and the ball just fell kindly for me.
“It was good to come on and get such an early touch for a goal. But it feels like it was for nothing. Leading 3-1, we should have held out and picked up the win.
”I think my goal should have proved the winner and the boys are all devastated.
”At 3-1 up with 10 to go, I thought we looked comfortable.”
Dunfermline boss Jim McIntyre has long lamented that basic errors are costing his side dear and he was entitled to sound as he put it like ”a broken record” again on Saturday.
The first half against Aberdeen was an instantly-forgettable, error-strewn affair that looked certain to drift to a dreary conclusion.
However, deep into stoppage time, Dunfermline switched off at a Fraser Fyvie corner to allow Andrew Considine to drift in unmarked at the far post and power home a header from close-range for his first goal of the season.
The Pars players undoubtedly received a dressing-room ear-bashing from McIntyre during the interval and they soon clawed their way back into the game in the second half when the impressive Andy Barrowman struck home at the second attempt in the 54th minute.
Davie Graham edged Dunfermline in front eight minutes later as he cut in from the left to drill a low shot into the back of the net from 18 yards.
Buchanan then notched what looked certain to be the clincher and the Pars could even have extended their lead further in the 80th minute but Dons keeper David Gonzalez pulled off a world-class stop to turn the ball on to his own post from a point-blank Barrowman shot.
Just seconds later, Keddie committed his headed howler to begin the calamitous conclusion to the match for the Pars.
A grim-faced McIntyre admitted: ”We have contrived to throw the game away. We showed great courage to come back to lead 3-1 but our concentration levels were poor and we have been done again.
”There is no way you should be scoring three goals at home and just end up with one point.”