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Dunfermline 1-3 Celtic

Henrik Larsson completed a fairytale ending to his Celtic career as he scored twice to help his side lift the Scottish Cup at Dunfermline's expense.

Andrius Skerla shocked the favourites by putting the Pars ahead on 40 minutes with a looping header.

But Larsson restored parity after 58 minutes when he broke free to curl the ball round Derek Stillie.

Thirteen minutes later he tucked home a second and Stilian Petrov slid a third into the net six minutes from time.

Celtic were first on the attack and Derek Stillie was well positioned to hold Chris Sutton's shot on the turn inside the first minute.

Dunfermline fashioned a chance of their own a few minutes later when Craig Brewster won a free kick 25 yards out, and Gary Dempsey's effort curled just a foot or so wide.

Stevie Crawford then passed up a decent opportunity when he blasted the ball wide from a good position inside the box.

Celtic began to dominate possession and Barry Nicholson had to be alert to prevent Alan Thompson having a tap-in at the back post.

A mix-up between Stillie and Andrius Skerla almost had calamitous results, but though Sutton went down under the defender's challenge, the referee saw nothing amiss.

The Pars almost took the lead against the run of play after 21 minutes when Brewster collected the ball at the far post, but David Marshall did superbly to block his powerful shot.

At the other end, Thompson played a one-two with Sutton before side-footing the ball inches wide from the edge of the box.

Skerla celebrating his opener, but his joy was shortlived

Dunfermline were let off the hook 10 minutes before half time when Celtic had a goal chalked off.

Larsson picked up the ball on the right and got the better of Labonte before picking out the unmarked Petrov, who tapped into an empty net, only for the game to be brought back for an infringement by Larsson.

Darren Young had a fierce drive deflected wide by Jackie McNamara, but from the resulting corner, Dunfermline took the lead.

Skerla met Dempsey's delivery with a looping header that Marshall, under pressure from Derek Young, allowed to slip past him into the net.

Celtic pushed for the equaliser and the beginning of the second half saw wave after wave of attacks on the Dunfermline goal, Gary Mason clearing off the line at one stage from Bobo Balde.

Ironically, Celtic's equaliser came on the counter-attack.

A Dunfermline corner was cleared via the hand of Balde - an incident unseen by the referee - and the boot of Sutton for Larsson to break free of Labonte and curl the ball past Stillie and in at the far post.

McNamara saw a powerful effort well saved by Stillie and Lee Bullen produced a goal-saving clearance with Larsson lurking as Celtic continued to press.

The inevitable happened after 71 minutes when Larsson turned Labonte on the edge of the box before tucking the ball past Stillie.

Thompson saw a goal-bound effort deflected over by Skerla but the third goal arrived in 84 minutes when Petrov slid the ball past Stillie after Ross Wallace took advantage of a Bullen mistake.

Dunfermline: Stillie, Darren Young, Skerla, Byrne (Tod 88), Mason (Grondin 82), Nicholson, Dempsey (Bullen 60), Derek Young, Labonte, Brewster, Crawford.
Subs Not Used: Scott Y Thomson, Mehmet.

Booked: Brewster, Darren Young.

Celtic: Marshall, Varga, Balde, McNamara, Agathe, Lennon, Petrov, Pearson (Wallace 58), Thompson, Larsson, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: McGovern, Lambert, Mjallby, Beattie.

Booked: Lennon.

Attendance: 50,846

Referee: S Dougal (Scotland).

WATCH AND LISTEN

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill "Larsson was always going to make his mark on the final"

Celtic legend Henrik Larsson "It has been a great seven years"

SCOTTISH CUP FINAL 2004

DUNFERMLINE 1-3 CELTIC