The 2007 Scottish Challenge Cup final was an association football match between Dunfermline Athletic and St Johnstone, held on 25 November 2007 at Dens Park in Dundee. It was the 17th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League.
St Johnstone progressed through four knock-out rounds to reach the final whilst Dunfermline Athletic contested only three after receiving a random bye into the second round. The 2007 final was Dunfermline's second appearance in a cup final in six months, having lost the 2007 Scottish Cup final, although it was the club's first Challenge Cup final. The match was St Johnstone's second appearance in the final of the tournament having lost in 1996. The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier League, with both clubs in the final coming from the First Division.
St Johnstone took a 3–0 lead within the first 30 minutes with a penalty kick from Paul Sheerin and goals from Peter MacDonald and Kenny Deuchar. Scott Wilson scored for Dunfermline after 37 minutes to make it 3–1 at half time. In the 70th minute, Stephen Glass scored from a penalty to make it 3–2. St Johnstone held on to win, and it was the first time the club had won a national cup trophy in its 123-year history.
Route to the final
The competition was a knock-out tournament and in 2007 was contested by the 30 teams that played in the First, Second and Third Divisions of the Scottish Football League. The first round draw was split into two geographical regions with 15 teams in each: north/west and south/east. In each regional draw, teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated. Dunfermline Athletic and Partick Thistle received random byes into the second round, at which stage the regional format ended and all remaining teams entered the same draw.
Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic entered the second round after receiving a bye in the first round draw and faced the First Division club and previous season's runners-up, Clyde, at Broadwood Stadium. Mark Burchill scored first for Dunfermline in the 26th minute with Ruari MacLennan equalising for Clyde one minute into the second half. Owen Morrison scored Dunfermline's second goal after 57 minutes before he and Burchill both scored again to make it 4–1 and win the match.
In the quarter-finals Dunfermline faced Airdrie United, a competitor in the Second Division, away from home at the Excelsior Stadium. The score was goalless at half time but Burchill's two goals in the second half after 54 and 81 minutes respectively sealed a 2–0 win to progress to the semi-finals. With four teams left in the tournament Dunfermline were drawn to play Ayr United, also of the Second Division, at home at East End Park. Similar to the previous round, the scoreline was 0–0 for most of the game before Glass scored a late winner for Dunfermline in the 83rd minute to win 1–0 and send Dunfermline into their first Challenge Cup final.
St Johnstone
St Johnstone entered the north/east section of the first round draw and were paired with Second Division club Raith Rovers away from home at Stark's Park. Paul Sheerin scored the first goal of the game for St Johnstone in the 13th minute from a penalty kick. The scoreline remained that way until the 89th minute when Andy Tod scored a late equaliser for Raith Rovers to force extra time to be played. The score stayed 1–1 for the 30 minutes of extra time so the winner was decided by a penalty shoot-out, which St Johnstone won 5–4 to progress to the second round. In the second round St Johnstone faced the defending champions Ross County, also away from home, at Victoria Park. Kenny Deuchar scored the first goal for St Johnstone in the 14th minute before Andy Jackson scored the game's only other goal in the 49th minute to secure a 2–0 win and advance to the next round.