PARS 1
Hamilton Accies 1

DUNFERMLINE and Hamilton will both be in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup quarter final draw as they failed to be separated at East End Park.

Allan Johnston made one change to the side that fell to defeat against Falkirk with Lewis Martin coming in at left-back ahead of Jason Talbot.

The Pars boss would have been looking for a response from his team after last week’s disappointment in the league.

The away side were first to threaten however, as Darian MacKinnon’s powerful effort flew past Sean Murdoch’s goal on 3 minutes.

Murdoch again had to be alert to palm a Eamonn Brophy drive over the bar when sent through by Rakish Bingham.

Bingham’s pace and power were causing Dunfermline’s defence all sorts of problems in the early exchanges as Accies pressed for a goal that would settle their nerves.

They soon went through a combination of emotions as dejection turned into relief as Callum Morris bulleted a header home from five yards.

Referee Craig Thomson though spotted foul play in the box and blew his whistle for an infringement.

Johnston’s despair transformed into delight a minute later as a mistake in the Accies midfield on 29 minutes gifted Pars the opener against the run of play.

Moffat slipped a perfectly weighted ball through for Paul McMullan who finished with ease past Remi Matthews from 12 yards out.

A number of bodies were thrown in front of an Imrie shot on goal shortly after the break as the visitors chased an equaliser.

The hosts really ought to have made it two on 55 minutes in almost a carbon copy of the first, with McMullan poking an effort wide with the keeper beat.

The Accies defence was carved open again a minute later but Michael Moffat’s volley at the second attempt was well saved by Matthews.

The away side were all over the place and Kallum Higginbotham wasted a good counter attack as he trickled a shot away from goal from a good position inside the area.

A deflected Brophy hit drew a fantastic reaction save from Murdoch as the New Douglas Park outfit tried to scratch their way level.

Jason Talbot almost gave them that equaliser on 63 minutes as he diverted a header onto his own bar with Murdoch rooted to the spot.

He was beaten once again on 74 minutes as Danny Redmond squared up the tie. He picked the ball up on the right and, unchallenged, curled a fantastic strike past the ex-Hamilton keeper.

The goal lifted Martin Canning's men and MacKinnon thought he'd send them through to the next round but Murdoch was able to tip his low shot round the post with minutes remaining.

A winner wouldn’t materialise for either side and will both go into the hat for the next round until the final whistle blows in Tuesday night’s replay.

PARS: Murdoch, Geggan (Talbot 38’), Ashcroft, Morris, Martin, McMullan, Herron, Wedderburn, Higginbotham, Clark, Moffat (Hopkirk 86’). 
SUBS NOT USED: Hutton, Reilly, Cardle, McCabe, Paton.

Hamilton Accies: Matthews, Seaborne, Devlin, Donati, Gillespie (Imrie 46’), Skondras (McMann 53’), MacKinnon, Adams, Brophy (Kurtaj 75’), Redmond, Bingham
SUBS NOT USED: Woods, Hughes, Watson, Cunningham.

REFEREE: Craig Thomson