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Dunfermline U20s 1 Celtic U20s 3: Hampden heartache for Pars in Youth Cup final

Dunfermlines Kerr Young  gets in a challenge on Celtics John Herron.
Dunfermlines Kerr Young gets in a challenge on Celtics John Herron.

Dunfermline’s brave bid to win the SFA Youth Cup for the first time since 1988 came unstuck at Hampden as Celtic won the final 2-1 with the East End Park youngsters showing plenty of spirit before going down.

The Pars fielded a side containing nine players with first-team experience with only goalkeeper Ryan Goodfellow and midfielder Scott Mercer not having been involved and they were backed by a sizeable travelling support.

In the opening minute Blair Henderson got in behind a dithering Celtic defence but was unable to bring the ball under control.

John Potter’s youngsters continued to impress and in nine minutes they had a great chance to take the lead when Grant Munro broke down the left.

His cross along the six-yard box reached Mercer and his low drive was goalbound until Celtic goalkeeper Leonardo Fasan and defender Michael Miller blocked the effort.

Dunfermline had Goodfellow to thank for keeping the scoreline blank midway through the first half when he finger-tipped away a Jackson Irvine header.

The Fifers then suffered a blow when Alex Whittle limped off to be replaced by Ross Drummond and that will be a worry for first team manager Jim Jefferies with the crucial First Division game with Airdrie United coming up on Saturday.

Just on the break an Atajic header flashed just wide but there was no escape eight minutes after the restart.

Paul George wriggled free on the right, his cross picked out Atajic and he found Herron who sent a header against a post with Lindsay firing in the rebound.

Dunfermline tried to hit back quickly and on 61 minutes Chris Kane was only inches away with a header before a well worked move ended with another Mercer shot being saved.

With 11 minutes to go it became a mountain to climb as Miller floated in a cross the left and Atajic flicked home a header.

That mountain looked smaller when Allan Smith scored a fine solo goal as he left three Celtic players trailing before slamming a low shot into the far corner.

Just as the Pars looked to put more pressure on Celtic substitute Denny Johnstone arrived at the back post to send home a looping header with his first touch.

Potter said: “I am disappointed as we had chances early on and we never took them and you have to do that against the Old Firm. We were probably the better side in the first half but the longer the game went the stronger Celtic became.”