Scottish Cup holders Aberdeen embarrassed by Dunfermline as Neil Lennon puts feat up there with Celtic

Still without a manager following the January departure of Jimmy Thelin, out-of-form Aberdeen were soundly defeated 3-0 by the Pars, who have reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup for the first time in 17 years.

Aberdeen arrived at East End Park in wretched form under caretaker boss Peter Leven and they were outclassed in almost every department by Neil Lennon’s men, who sit fourth in the second tier of Scottish football. They join Falkirk in the last four, with Rangers v Celtic and St Mirren v Partick Thistle to play on Sunday.

Dunfermline, who knocked out another top-flight outfit in Hibs in the fourth round, took a 14th-minute lead through Matty Todd with a high finish beyond Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov and Olly Thomas, a constant thorn in Aberdeen’s side, doubled the advantage on 22 minutes when his shot was saved by Mitov, only to bounce back off him and into the net.

The large band of Aberdeen fans largely jeered their players and while they briefly rallied after the break, any hopes of a comeback were extinguished on 61 minutes when Thomas broke clear and scored with a shot that went in off the post.

Dunfermline could easily have added more goals in the closing stages and the final whistle sparked jubilant scenes in the home end, with Lennon taking the acclaim of the supporters.

“It’s beyond my wildest expectations,” said Lennon, who won the Scottish Cup as a player and a manager with Celtic. “This is one of the best things I’ve done in football. I couldn’t be more proud of the team. We were very, very good tonight. It’s a great night for the club and the people of Dunfermline.

“What I’ve got with this team is like what I had with Hibs. They can play. We know we can compete with the very best. It’s just consistency, they are so young. The club’s in a good place and this is spectacular. I was dreaming about going back to Hampden.”

‘It will take a bit of time to sink in’

Opening scorer Todd said: “I’m absolutely buzzing. It was a great night. We’ve taken the club back to where it belongs by getting to Hampden. The boys are celebrating just now. It will take a couple of weeks to sink in.”

Thomas added on the scenes at East End Park: “It’s something I haven’t really experienced in my career. The first goal was my first for the club - it means a lot to me.”

For Aberdeen, it was a far cry from ten months ago at Hampden, when they won the Scottish Cup for the first time since 1990 by beating Celtic on penalties.

The Granite City side were consigned to a bottom-half finish in the Premiership on Wednesday night with a 2-1 home defeat to Celtic and their meek cup exit confirmed a miserable season as they continue to plough on with Leven as interim manager, despite being linked with Eirik Horneland and Sandro Schwarz.

Their focus now turns to the league. Dundee’s win over Motherwell earlier on Saturday has moved them down to ninth place and they are eight points ahead of the 11th-placed Kilmarnock. They will hope to avoid being dragged into the relegation play-off spot.

“It was atrocious,” said Leven. “I’m furious. I can’t defend them any more. We are in trouble. I apologise to the fans, there wasn’t one pass mark there. It was unacceptable.”