Sweet and sour for Gary Mason

Final blow for Gazza as Pars win through to meet SPL Champions, Celtic.

Sweet though the victory over Hibs was on Tuesday night, there was a sour taste seeping through the Dunfermline supporters and players when it was remembered that Gary Mason's 52nd minute yellow card would put him out of the final. Sitting on one yellow flagged against his name, Gary was well aware of the consequences of collecting another yellow card in this season's Scottish Cup:-

"You have to go into the game not thinking about it. That is the least of your worries, you are just hoping to get the right result to get to the final and we have done that. I am disappointed getting this far and missing the final but I am delighted for the boys."

His Manager said that he could accept why Referee Craig Thomson had issued the yellow card but Gary had thought that he could make the tackle:-

"It was a greasy surface and my momentum took me forward. I never thought that there was much in the actual challenge to get me booked. Maybe a couple of fouls before it contributed to it."

Come 26th May when Gary will find himself watching his team mates from the stand, everyone will have sympathy for the 27 year old midfielder. No doubt he will be sitting beside the already cup tied Tam McManus and Stephen Glass with the on loan Celt Jim O'Brien. For those three accepting exclusion might be slightly more bearable, Gary continued:-

"No one likes watching from the stand especially when it is jammed packed and the atmosphere makes you wish that you were out there. Obviously it is a horrible situation. It is a bit harsh, that is the way the rules are. It is quite poor that you get a couple of bookings and you are out."

For a provincial club Scottish Cup Finals do not arrive with regularity, despite featuring in the 2004 Scottish Cup Final Gary felt that when it does come around you want to be involved:-

"I got a taste of it before when we got to the last one. You want more of it."

A major factor in seeing the Pars through to only their second Scottish Cup final in 39 years was the performance of the defence, Gary highlighted that success of no goal against in the last three matches:-

"Look how many corners Hibs got and free kicks but they never looked like they were going to score. We work hard on it on the training pitch with a lot of setpieces. Sometimes it can be boring but you get the dividends. When the defence succeeds you get a real buzz from that everyway through the team."

The result from The Falkirk Stadium was not going to alter Dunfermline's thinking as they came up against a Hibs team that was keen to avoid making it three exits at the last four stage for three years in a row:-

"We have been on a good run and it makes it a massive game for us next week."