The Scotsman Archive: Connachan the hero in Fifers' historic victory

Scottish Cup final replay

The Scotsman, 27 April 1961

HISTORY was made in more ways than one at Hampden Park last night when Dunfermline defeated Celtic in a replay to win the Scottish Cup for the first time in the 76 years of the club's existence.

Side by side with the epic achievement itself will stand the historic performance of the Fife team's goalkeeper, Connachan, who played in a manner that must be described as magnificent through the 180 minutes of the final.

Seldom can one player have so influenced the destiny of an important game. As dusk fell over the ground those of the 87,000 spectators who remained for the presentation of the trophy saw Connachan raised on the shoulders of his team-mates in tribute to his unforgettable contribution.

The success, of course, elevated many others and none more so than Mr Jock Stein, himself a former pillar of Parkhead, whose sagacious management has done more than any other single factor to bring this proud accomplishment for a club who had never previously gone as far as the semi-final of the Cup.

At such a moment it matters little that Dunfermline's victory was hardly a faithful reflection of last night's play. In a match that was spirited rather than stylish, hard and fast rather than clever, Celtic did at least enough to deserve another chance.

But even the Glasgow club, with 17 Scottish Cup wins behind them, will not grudge their old colleague and his valiant XI the pleasure of giving Dunfermline this first triumph, carrying all its golden promise of competing in next year's European national cup winners' tournament.

Some may feel that, in surrendering the two late goals, Celtic's defence - and particularly the unfortunate Haffey - were just too generous. Bad marking permitted Thomson to head the first, and the same fault was evident even before Haffey blundered in failing to prevent Dickson from taking the second.

This was a night for overlooking the negative aspects of the play and accentuating the positive exultation of the winners. Everyone was heroic and only Connachan should be separated for special praise. Celtic will often have less of a game and more of the prize.

A great deal of Dunfermline's win lay, of course, in Mr Stein's capacity for making the right decision on vital issues. He showed it again last night when, having been forced by injuries to reorganise his side, he produced a formation that many people considered strange. He placed Miller, a wing half, at centre half, and Sweeney, who is established as a full back, at left half. And all that, in spite of having Cunningham, Ireland's centre half, at left back.

Whatever was thought of the line-up, it turned out to be no more unusual than its effect on Celtic. The manager's tactics probably added to that, because Dunfermline did their damage in the second half, when they were deploying their forwards peculiarly, with Peebles transferred to the left wing, Melrose lying deep on his inside and Dickson wandering anywhere that he could stir up trouble.Despite all their efforts, the attack still did not look like the best in Dunfermline's history. But it was the only one that ever won the cup for them. Nothing else mattered.

Dunfermline's reorganised defence had some trouble in settling but their distress was nothing to that of McNeill and his men when Haffey sprinted out to the left touchline in intercepting Peebles and then dribbled until he gave the ball back to the winger.

With that panic over, however, Celtic soon showed that they were the more insistently aggressive. Dunfermline had as much of the ball but they seldom carried it that far. Crerand and Clark slid the ball forward often and accurately enough to bring a better response than Hughes and his forwards were able to give them.

The only time that Hughes got really free of opposition before the interval, he was offside and his shot to the back of Connachan's net was worth recording only because it dislodged the cardboard cup mascot which was stood there.

The second half opened significantly with Haffey straining to edge away a cross from the left wing. More direct attacking action was crowded into the opening minutes than we had seen in the preceding 45. Haffey dropped on to a threatening header from Mailer shortly before Fernie inexplicably sent another header wide when finding himself actually nearer the goal line than Connachan.

It was now, with the Celtic pressure building up rapidly, that the magnificence of Connachan emerged. Yet even his brilliance should not have been enough when Hughes at last ploughed through the close-packed Dunfermline defence. The centre shot hard but straight at the goalkeeper and, when the ball rebounded to Chalmers, he rattled it against two Fife players conveniently placed on their line.

We decided that, having survived this, Mr Stein's team were liable to do anything. In fact, they did the best thing possible. They scored a goal. And they did it with great simplicity in the 67th minute.

Thomson, the 22-year-old deputy centre forward, flicked the ball to Peebles who had moved to the left wing, and ran forward for the deflected return and headed forcefully behind Haffey's left side.

Almost immediately, Connachan had the most memorable moment of a gloriously memorable game when he leapt at a fierce 20-yard shot from Crerand, hung in the air for a second as if supported by its power, and then dropped on the ground and into football history.The number of Dunfermline players who were falling injured at this stage suggested they were suffering from physical exhaustion, but their pains were forgotten three minutes from the end when they scored the goal which confirmed the Cup was theirs.

It was unfortunate that the goal should open some of the old Wembley wounds for Haffey who might have caught a lob from the right wing before Dickson bundled the ball past him and ran on unhindered to push it into the net.

Celtic: Haffey, McKay, O'Neill, Crerand, McNeill, Clark; Gallagher, Fernie, Hughes, Chalmers, Byrne.

Dunfermline: Connachan; Fraser, Cunningham; Mailer, Miller, Sweeney; Peebles, Smith, Thomson, Dickson, Melrose.

Referee: H Phillip (Wishaw)