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The defending champions of the Scottish Cup, Edinburgh "Hearts," ended their performance in this year's tournament in the quarterfinals - Valdas Ivanauskas' "Lithuanian" club, while playing away against "Dunfermline," conceded a goal in the last minute and was eliminated from the competition. Once again, Scotland national team goalkeeper Craig Gordon was not in the starting lineup of the capital club, staying on the bench this time. Injured defender Christophe Berra was replaced by Ibrahim Tall, and Ghanaian Laryea Kingston made his debut in the defensive line. From the start of the match, Lithuanians Marius Žaliūkas and Saulius Mikoliūnas took to the field. In the first half, neither team had any serious chances, but the visitors were more active, earning three corner kicks in the first few minutes. They also appealed for a penalty for a foul against S. Mikoliūnas, but the match referee Michael McCurry did not spot the infringement. After the break, the game opened up a bit, and at the start of the second half, "Dunfermline's" Stevie Crawford hit the opponent's defender, while goalkeeper Dorus De Vries caught a shot from Michal Pospišil on the other side of the field. The home team's goalkeeper was particularly busy in the middle of the half - at first, he saved a shot from A. Driver with the help of a defender, but later D. De Vries had to push away a dangerous shot from S. Mikoliūnas, as well as M. Pospišilo and M. Žaliūkas' attempts with their heads. "Dunfermline" responded with an inaccurate shot from Jimo Hamilton, while "Hearts" had chances with Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar on the field after substitutions, but their attempts did not hit the target. However, the end of the match was tragic for the visitors. In the fourth minute of added time, "Dunfermline" earned a penalty kick, and after the ball was passed to the penalty area, Joe Hamill cleared the ball to the far post, where former Scott Wilson headed past Steve Banks and secured the hosts a victory and a ticket to the quarterfinals. Two more Scottish Premier League clubs, "Falkirk," who were defeated 3-0 at home by lower division "St. Johnstone," and "Dundee Utd," who lost to "Dundee Utd," also exited the cup competition at the quarterfinal stage. Last year's finalists, "Gretna," also finished their campaign by admitting defeat to Edinburgh "Hibernian." Advancing to the quarterfinals were "Motherwell," second division "Partick Thistle," and "Queen of South." For the last spot in the quarterfinals, lower league "Livingston" will face the country's champions and current league leaders, Glasgow "Celtic," on Sunday. Scottish Cup quarterfinal results: "Falkirk" 0 - 3 "St Johnstone" "Dunfermline" 1 - 0 "Hearts" "Inverness CT" 1 - 0 "Dundee Utd" "Deveronvale" 0 - 1 "Partick Thistle" "Hibernian" 3 - 1 "Gretna" "Motherwell" 2 - 0 "Morton" "Queen of South" 2 - 0 "Cowdenbeath"
