Pars' let-off is bad news for Stenny

STENHOUSEMUIR manager John Coughlin was today beginning the task of lifting his players after

Dunfermline won their appeal against expulsion from the Active Nation Scottish Cup.

The decision to reinstate the Pars and order a replay of the clubs' fourth-round tie, albeit switching it to Ochilview, means Stenhousemuir have seen lucrative their home tie with Celtic put in jeopardy.

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Coughlin will now have to lift his players, who were looking forward to taking on the Glasgow giants. "I'm not pleased at all that there's a replay," he said.

"(My players) have had the chance to play against Celtic taken away from them and now it's about lifting them and making sure that any pain they're feeling right now they use as motivation.

There was the possibility the Sky cameras would have taken the game as well. You're talking about probably 70,000-80,000 for that on top of the gate.

"It's well over 100,000. That can effectively be the difference between having a very good season and having an average season."

Dunfermline were kicked out of the cup by the Scottish Football Association last week following a number of breaches of the competition rules. The Pars' expulsion came partly as the result of fielding Calum Woods, who came off the bench in the second half of the 7-1 win over Stenhousemuir on 9 January at East End Park.

However, they successfully argued that by rectifying an administrative error prior to kick-off they unwittingly broke a further two rules. The Pars have been fined 20,000 for fielding a suspended player and 1,000 for submitting an inaccurate team line.

Stenhousemuir were not the only ones surprised with the panel's decision. Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith said: "We are surprised. The emergency committee considered a number of serious infringements of the cup competition rules."

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