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| Date: |
1st
March 2003 |
Opposition: |
Dundee
United |
Score (H/T): |
0-3
(0-1) |
| Competition: |
Sc
Premier League |
Venue |
Tannadice |
Attendance: |
6,004 |
| Scorer: |
[0-1]
Easton (39), [0-2] Tod (47), [0-3] Ogunmade
(89) |
| Yellow Cards: |
Wilson (DAFC) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie; MacPherson (Kilgannon 56), Skerla, Brannan,
Wilson; Dair (Hunt HT), Nicholson, Mason, Grondin; Crawford, Brewster. Subs
not used: Ruitenbeek, Walker, McGarty.
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| Dundee United: |
Gallacher; McCracken, Tod, Bollan; McCunnie, Duff, Easton,
Latapy (Dodds 58), Paterson; McIntyre (Smart 85), Lilley (Ogunmade 77). Subs
not used: Combe (GK), O'Donnell.
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| Referee: |
T Brown |
| A very poor showing by
Dunfermline at Tannadice, which saw United record only their second home
win of the season. Having had the majority of pressure, it was no real
surprise that the Arabs took the lead six minutes before the break when
Easton headed home from six yards. Calderwood replaced Dair at half time
with Hunt, but before the young Irishman could make an impression Dundee
United went two up. Pars old boy Andy Tod slid the ball home at
the far post. Just before the final whistle substitute Ogunmade
compounded the Athletics' misery by slamming the ball past Stillie from
the edge of the six yards box. |
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| Post match manager Calderwood once again
laments his team's poor away form saying, "we
are not good enough just to turn up; we have got to earn the right to win
these games. We didn't win that right today, Dundee United did." |
| After seeing his team humbled by Dundee
United, JC says he would have no hesitation in getting rid of players who
weren't up to scratch. He said it would be difficult as some of them have
18 month and two years left on their contracts. A clear the air meeting is held with the
players on the Sunday. |
| Stevie Crawford is ranked as 17th in the
UEFA Golden Boot listings. |
| Scott Thomson is to see a specialist to
try and resolve his ankle problem. Another player whose return is on hold
is Lee Bullen, having suffered an adverse reaction following a training
comeback. |
| The Under 21 team beat Dundee 3-0 at Dens
Park, with goals from Jason Dair, Gary Dempsey and Sean Kilgannon. |
| One time signing target, Taribo West,
claims that Dunfermline never really understood his religious beliefs. |
| For the
Hibs Scottish Cup replay, the one change made to the team that lost
at Tannadice is the surprise inclusion of Mark McGarty, at the expense of
Jason Dair. |
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| Date: |
6th
March 2003 |
Opposition: |
Hibernian |
Score (H/T): |
2-0 (0-0) |
| Competition: |
Scottish
Cup |
Venue |
Easter Road |
Attendance: |
5,581 |
| Scorer: |
[1-0]
Crawford (57),
[2-0] Wilson (79) |
| Yellow Cards: |
Brewster
(DAFC), McManus (Hibs) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie; Skerla, MacPherson, Wilson;
Nicholson, McGarty, Brannan, Mason (Dempsey 92), Grondin (Walker 89);
Crawford, Brewster (Hunt 63). Subs not used: Ruitenbeek, Kilgannon.
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| Hibernian: |
Colgan; Doumbe, Smith, Fenwick (Arpinon
78); James, Jack, Townsley (O'Neil 65), Murray; O'Connor (Paatelainen 85),
McManus. Subs not used: Andersson, Orman,
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| Referee: |
H Dallas |
| For the
third time this season Dunfermline recorded a victory at Easter Road, a ground
which had been anything but a happy hunting ground for many years. The first
half saw a poor display from both team with Hibs having the best of the
few chances made. Mark McGarty, making his first start since December
2000, was almost punished for hesitating when chasing a long ball into the
box, but Murray shot wide. Twelve
minutes into the second half and a Grondin cross from the left was
chested down by Stevie Crawford, who then despatched the ball past Colgan
for the opener. Despite being a goal down, Hibs did not offer much of a challenge
and in 79 minutes, their defence failed to clear a Barry
Nicholson corner. With Noel Hunt charging in on Colgan the ball broke
lose and there was Scott Wilson to smash the ball past Colgan for the Pars
second goal. The victory over Hibs sets DA up for a quarter final tie
against Rangers at East End Park. |
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| Date: |
9th March 2003 |
Opposition: |
Partick Thistle |
Score (H/T): |
0-0
(0-0) |
| Competition: |
Sc Premier League |
Venue |
East End Park |
Attendance: |
4,476 |
| Scorer: |
N/A |
| Yellow Cards: |
Brewster
(DAFC), Lilley, Hardie (Partick) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie; Skerla, MacPherson, Wilson; Nicholson, McGarty (Dair
HT), Brannan, Grondin (Kilgannon 77); Crawford; Hunt (Dempsey HT),
Brewster. Subs not used: Ruitenbeek, Walker
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| Partick
Thistle: |
Arthur; Lilley, Rowson, Craigan, Archibald, Buchan,
Paterson, Hardie, Fleming; Britton (Elliot 78), Burns (Gibson 89). Subs
not used: Budinauckas, Waddell, McGowne.
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| Referee: |
C Richmond |
| This was as poor
an advertisement for Scottish football as you could wish to find, with two
off form teams that never looked like troubling the back of the net. During the
first half, although Dunfermline probably had more of the game, it was
Thistle who had the better of the chances. The interval proved to be a
relief from the match, but unfortunately the second half turned out to be
no better than the first. The Pars best efforts came from Grondin and
Brewster, but right at the death Thistle almost stole the game when Gibson
brought out a good save from Stillie. File under forgettable! |
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| Post match Calderwood felt that his team
had been very flat and had found the heavily rutted pitch difficult to
pass on. |
| Ged Brannan has said he would take a pay
cut to remain at East End Park at the end of his loan spell. |
| Manager Calderwood says that the
Kilmarnock match is a must win game. His words are echoed by Jimmy Nicholl
who warns the players to forget Europe and start looking over their
shoulders. |
| Former players Ian Ferguson and Stewart
Petrie help their new team Northern Spirit into the finals of the Australian
season. Fergie scores the winner in a 2-1 victory over local
rivals Marconi Stallions. |
| Another poor performance sees an
experienced Under 21 side go down 3-0 to Dundee United. In a bid to
protect the East End pitch, the match was played at Bayview, Methil. |
| JC announces that the Pars will return to
Holland pre-season for the fourth year in a row. Once again the team will
be based in Delden and will play four games, against an amateur side,
Nijmegan, FC Twente and either De Graafshaap or Go Ahead Eagles. Prior to
departing for Holland, DA will visit the Isle of Lewis and play two games in Stornaway. |
| Dunfermline
are reported to be interested
in signing Jim Hamilton, who has been released by Dundee United. There are
a number of contractual difficulties to sort out before any move takes
place. |
| Noel Hunt and Gary Dempsey are called up
to the Irish Under 21 team for the games in Georgia and Albania. |
| John Yorkston revealed that a number of
players are likely to be released before the end of the season. These are
likely to be players on the fringe of the first team, especially those too
old to get a game for the under 21s. |
| Another injury blow hits JC's plans for
Kilmarnock, as Andrius Skerla becomes the latest player to be affected
with by a hamstring. On the plus side, Lee Bullen is back in the side
after making a surprise return to training. Gary Mason, Scott
Thomson, Steven Hampshire and Andre Karnebeek continue on the
sidelines. |
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| Date: |
16th March 2003 |
Opposition: |
Kilmarnock |
Score (H/T): |
1-1
(0-0) |
| Competition: |
Sc Premier League |
Venue |
Rugby Park |
Attendance: |
4,021 |
| Scorer: |
[1-0]
Shields (59 og), [1-1] Boyd (81) |
| Yellow Cards: |
Bullen,
Hunt (DAFC) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie; Walker, MacPherson, Wilson; Bullen (Dempsey 60),
Nicholson, Brannan, Grondin (McGroarty 57), Kilgannon; Crawford, Brewster
(Hunt 73). Subs not used: Ruitenbeek, Dair.
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| Kilmarnock: |
Meldrum; Shields, Innes, Dindeleux (Boyd 65); Fowler,
Mahood, Fulton, Canero, Hay (Murray 76); McLaren, McSwegan. Subs not
used: Stewart, Locke, McDonald
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| Referee: |
D
McDonald |
| For the first
hour or so the Athletic played as well as they have done for some time,
having by far the better chances. Nicholson, Kilgannon and Grondin all had
good chances, whilst McLaren smashed the ball into the side netting when
he was through on goals. At the start of the second half, Meldrum did well
to palm away a Brewster header, but then after almost an hour of play, the
Pars took the lead in bizarre fashion. A shot by Kilgannon was touched
away by Meldrum with the ball falling to former Par, Greg Shields. With
plenty of time to clear, the ball seemed to bobble at the critical moment,
and ended up in the roof of the net. A goal up with half an hour
remaining, the Pars began to fall further back into defence. Then with
just ten
minutes left, Stevie Crawford, tried to play the ball off an opponent but
only succeeded in conceding a corner from the half way line, and for the umpteenth
time this season, the set piece turned out to be the Pars downfall. The corner, the first of the match won by Killie, was played to the edge of
the six yard box, where Kris Boyd eluded his marker to head past a
helpless Stilie. In the final minute, Kilmarnock had a chance to take all
three points, but Stillie denied McSwegan with a good
save. |
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| After the game, JC felt that his team had
played well for 70 minutes, should have scored
more goals, but then stopped passing the ball about. |
| The roll call of the injured lengthened
considerably after the Killie game. Worst affected was midfielder Gary
Dempsey who suffered a double jaw fracture, after being flattened on a
couple of occasions by Innes. Lee Bullen was substituted following a flare
up of his hamstring injury, and defender Scott Walker injured his neck. A scan during the week reveals that Andrius Skerla |
| JC slams the
BBC for scheduling the
Kilmarnock game for 1.05pm on the same day as the CIS Cup Final between
Rangers and Celtic. A crowd of just over 4,000 attended. |
| Stevie Crawford receives another call-up
to the Scotland game for the games against Iceland and Lithuania. Gary
Dempsey's injury means that the youngster has to withdraw from the Irish
Under 21 squad. Also removed from the Lithuania squad is Andrius Skerla. |
| The SPL chairmen vote to scrap the winter
break as from next season. |
| At the end of a week of injury worries
for manager JC, those missing out on the Rangers game are Andre Karnebeek,
Scott Thomson, Andrius Skerla, Lee Bullen, and Gary Dempsey. Barry
Nicholson and Derek Stillie are doubts, although both will make the game. |
| Rangers route to the quarter-final had
been considerably easier than DA's, with away wins over Arbroath (3-0) and
Ayr United (1-0). |
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| Date: |
23rd
March 2003 |
Opposition: |
Rangers |
Score (H/T): |
1-1
(1-1) |
| Competition: |
Scottish
Cup |
Venue |
East End Park |
Attendance: |
9,875 |
| Scorer: |
[1-0]
Grondin (23), [1-1] Caniggia (31) |
| Yellow Cards: |
Hunt
(DAFC), Ricksen, Muscat, Malcolm, Moore (Rangers) |
| Red Card |
Ferguson
(Rangers) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie, McPherson, Nicholson (Hunt 52), Mason, Crawford,
Brewster, Brannan, McGroarty, Wilson, Grondin (Kilgannon 74), McGarty Subs
not used: Ruitenbeek, Dair, Walker
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| Rangers: |
Klos, Ricksen, Moore, Ferguson, Caniggia, McCann (Averladze
74), Malcolm, De Boer, Muscat, Konterman, Ateta. Subs not used:
McGregor, Thomson, Ross, Eggen
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| Referee: |
J Underhill |
| After the
disappointments of recent weeks, this was a tremendous performance from the
Pars who, with a little bit of luck, could have pulled off a shock result.
In a pulsating game, Dunfermline took the lead when the ball was played
upfield to Brewster. Ignoring claims for offside, the veteran played a
perfect pass to David Grondin for the Frenchman to smash the ball past
Klos. Unfortunately the lead lasted just eight minutes when de Boer
slipped the ball to Caniggia who toe poked it past the advancing Stillie.
When Barry Nicholson was forced to go off injured early in the second
half, he was replaced by Noel
Hunt and the youngster wasted no time in ruffling the Ibrox millionaires
feathers. Almost immediately he was involved in a scuffle that saw both
the Irishman and Muscat booked, and Barry Ferguson lucky to avoid any
action after he clearly raised his hands to the Pars player. Dunfermline were
fortunate not to concede a goal when both Caniggia and Averladze missed easy chances when scoring seemed the easier option. Right before
the end DA survived a penalty claim after Brannan appeared to down
Arteta in the box. With just seconds remaining the game Barry Ferguson
received his marching orders after a shocking tackle on Hunt earned him a
red card. After some of the disappointing televised games that the Pars had
been involved in recently, this was a tremendous advert for Scottish
football, with DA fully deserving the right to a replay at Ibrox. |
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| Post match manager Calderwood said that
he was very proud of his players, claming they were getting closer to
Rangers with each game. Meanwhile
Rangers manager Alex McLeish appears to have been watching a completely
different game, claiming that his highly paid players were 'kicked up and
down the park'. A strange comment as four of his players were yellow
carded and one red carded, compared to the two Dunfermline players
cautioned. |
| Should DA get past Rangers in the replay,
then Motherwell who beat Stranraer 4-0 in the quarters, await in the semi-final. |
| Mark McGarty has been warned by JC to
improve his behavior if he wants to remain at Dunfermline. |
| The Under 21 team loses again this time
4-1 away to Motherwell. Steven Hampshire scores the Athletics' sole goal.
The defeat leaves the young Pars rooted to the foot of the Under 21
league. |
| After an orchestrated
campaign by Rangers 'supporters', Noel Hunt learns that an alleged
spitting incident involving Bert Konterman will not be reviewed by the SFA
Video Review Panel. Meanwhile the youngster scores the Irish Under 21's
equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Georgia away. |
| Former Dundee United striker Jim Hamilton
signs for the Pars until the end of the season as an amateur. The change
in Hamilton's status was necessary to get round complicated transfer
regulations. |
| Jimmy Calderwood is keen to make loan
midfielder Ged Brannan's move to East End Park permanent. Success will
depend on reaching agreement with Brannan's current club Wigan. |
| Stevie Crawford plays the full 90 minutes
for Scotland in their 2-1 win over Iceland at Hampden. |
| Striker Colin Nish is told that his
contract won't be renewed when it expires at the end of the season. The
22 year old will spend the next week at English Third Division York City
on trial. |