Dunfermline ultimately had their wasteful finishing to rue as they crashed out of the Petrofac Training Cup despite the best and bizarre efforts of Falkirk substitute Botti Biabi to throw them a late lifeline.
The 18-year-old striker had enlivened Falkirk after his 51st-minute introduction and provided two assists for Tom Taiwo’s rare, and as equally surprising, double that had the Bairns with one foot in the last eight.
However, the combustible teenager then lost his cool completely as he took exception to an alleged stamp from Ross Millen and headbutted the Pars full-back in clear view of referee George Salmond to earn a deserved red card before having to be escorted from the field after sparking another melee on his way off.
“It was unbelievable,” admitted Falkirk manager Peter Houston.
“You make a sub to try and make an impact and he won us the game and nearly lost us the game. He reacted to being stamped on in a way you can’t.
“He lost the plot and he put us under severe pressure towards the end.”
The incident belied what had gone before, particularly in the first half when one of Scottish football’s fiercest rivalries was betrayed by the largely tame exchanges.
The Pars came out strongly in the opening stages and controlled the early exchanges but they had their profligacy to blame for the half-time parity. On two occasions before the break it seemed much more straight forward to bulge the net.
In the 18th minute, Ross Forbes curled a tempting free-kick in from the right, missing the statuesque defenders, but somehow defender Jonathan Page skewed his half-volley from barely two yards out into the only space where the pink-clad MacDonald could prevent the ball from crossing the line.
Things began to hot up further as the interval approached and Faissal El Bakhtaoui could have done better than curl a left-foot shot wide before crossing for Michael Moffat, who definitely should have hit the target with a six-yard header that he instead glanced wide.
Houston gave his misfiring line-up, who were some way short of the heights they had reached against Rangers on Friday in the league, until five minutes after the break to improve but the double change he then made helped inspire the visitors to victory.
Biabi enlivened the Falkirk attack and, after getting the better of Page inside the box, his 55th-minute cutback was perfect for Taiwo to slot coolly in from the edge of the area.
If that was a collectors’ item for the former Hibernian and Chelsea holding midfielder, a second five minutes later must have stunned even the summer signing.
Again Biabi fed his team-mate 18 yards out and, this time, it was a deft chip with the outside of his right boot that speared Dunfermline’s hopes of progressing.
From the comfort of a two-goal advantage, Falkirk almost contrived to throw away their quarter-final berth. The concession of Geggan’s 69th-minute header from a Millen free-kick gave Dunfermline heart and Biabi’s sending off ensured it was a long final quarter of an hour for the visitors.
“We were so far in front, we totally dominated the first-half and we should have been a couple up,” said Pars boss Jim Jefferies.
“We missed a couple of great chances when we were in control of the match.
“I knew Peter would go in there at half-time and give them a bit of stick and we’ve lost two goals in five minutes.
“But we got a fantastic response from the players and got a goal back, and the boy getting sent off got everybody buzzing. We gave it our best shot and Falkirk were hanging on. They got the result but there was no way we were out-performed tonight.”