Allan Johnston disappointed Dunfermline did not defeat Hamilton in Scottish Cup

Dunfermline manager Allan Johnston lamented his side's poor finishing and referee Craig Thomson's decision-making after his side were held to a 1-1 William Hill Scottish Cup draw by Hamilton.

Paul McMullan gave the Pars the lead on the half hour just seconds after team-mate Callum Morris had a goal disallowed for a foul on Accies goalkeeper Remi Matthews.

On-loan Celtic midfielder McMullan, Michael Moffat and Kallum Higginbotham then wasted good chances to extend the hosts' lead after the break.

The Fife outfit were punished for their profligacy when Danny Redmond scored a 75th-minute equaliser, setting up a fifth round replay at the Superseal stadium.

However, Pars manager Johnston believes his team should already be in the hat for the last eight draw.

He said: I think it's a case of rueing those second-half chances, even in the first half as well when Callum Morris' goal was disallowed. It's very soft.

We're disappointed not to get that one but in the second half we had great opportunities. Paul McMullan was through one-on-one and Michael Moffat and Kallum Higginbotham both had great opportunities.

Paul scored the first one and the second one was more or less identical. He played really well and he had good energy levels.

We have to make sure it's the same again on Tuesday. We've let them out of jail and we have to make sure we finish it off on Tuesday with another good performance.''

Morris had headed in from a corner before McMullan broke the deadlock and Johnston is convinced the goal should have stood.

The former Queen of the South and Kilmarnock boss added: I've seen it again, it's very soft.

I think it was for a block by Michael Moffat on the goalkeeper but there was nothing there, it was very, very minimal. It was a good header. It's one of them, sometimes you get, sometimes you don't.''

Hamilton manager Martin Canning, meanwhile, insists the cup clash panned out how he thought it would and is confident of winning the replay.

Canning said: The whole game was exactly how I thought it would be, a really tight competitive cup tie.

To go 1-0 down and come back in those circumstances, you're happy. I thought we controlled pretty much all of the second half but we got caught on the break a few times and that was disappointing because it shouldn't be happening.

If we had better decision-making we probably could have scored again to win the game but we've got to do it all again on Tuesday.''

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