By Sean
January 12 2004

A first-half double from Stevie Crawford helped earn Dunfermline a safe passage into the Tennent's Scottish Cup fourth round in a 3-1 win over Dundee United. United midfielder Derek McInnes gave the Tannadice club some hope with a volleyed counter in the 38th minute.

But Craig Brewster capped a performance which belied his veteran status with a goal five minutes after the break.

Dunfermline went straight on the attack early on and they got the breakthrough they wanted in the 16th minute with a goal straight out of the top drawer.

Brewster started it with a ball wide to Derek Young but it was the former Aberdeen man who made it all happen with a wonderful cross-field pass to the back post where Gary Dempsey was storming in to the box.

He intelligently touched the ball first time into the path of Crawford and the Scotland striker made no mistake from eight yards out.

Dunfermline played the better football, with United's passing simply not good enough on the perfectly-smooth plastic pitch they complained so much about in the lead up to the match.

And they were made to pay 10 minutes from half-time as a woeful blunder by visiting stopper Alan Archibald gifted the Pars a second.

The former Partick player swiped at a simple long ball from Brewster, allowing Crawford to run clear on goal.

He opted not to shoot as he bore down on Paul Gallacher but instead cut inside Stuart Duff and coolly slotted into the bottom corner of the net.

Minutes later, Mark Wilson's cross deflected high into the heart of the Pars' area finding Andy McLaren and he beautifully cushioned the ball into the path of skipper McInnes.

The midfielder still had it all to do but still cracked a wonderful volley past Derek Stillie.

Dunfermline continued to dominate possession after the interval, however, and restored their two-goal lead only five minutes into the second period with another top-class strike on the break.

Brewster fooled just about everyone in the ground with a brilliant turn in the centre circle before feeding Crawford wide on the left.

The former Hibernian striker in turn superbly picked out Brewster, who had run 50 yards to get on the end of the cross, and he volleyed across the goal and past Gallacher's despairing dive.