Raith 1 Hearts 2

Frenchman Stephan Adam scored a brilliant winning goal to send the Edinburgh side through to the quarter-finals.

But he and Danny Lennon were red-carded 12 minutes from time after a tussle on the ground.

Raith started brightly but neither side could break down the opposing defences in a goalless first half. However, Hearts found their plucky opponents far harder work than Aberdeen, who were soundly beaten 4-1 on Saturday.

The 1994 Coca-Cola Cup winners may be in the first division now but they looked keen to make their mark in this year's competition and went ahead nine minutes into the second half.

Danny Lennon found space on the right and his cross was headed home by Keith Wright.

The home fans' joy was short-lived, however, as the Premier Division side hit back immediately. Steve Frail curled in a free-kick and David Weir out-jumped the defence to flick a header high into the corner of the net.

The game had turned into a real frenetic Cup tie and Wright almost restored Raith's lead but his shot was held by French keeper Gilles Rousset.

But with 64 minutes on the clock, Hearts went in front. Adam picked the ball up on the left, ran across the box and fired a sweet right foot shot into the bottom corner.

The top flight club survived a few late scares to hang on and go into the hat for the quarter-final draw, but Hearts manager Jim Jeffries admitted his team were lucky to get through.

"Obviously I am pleased to be in the next round but not happy with the performance," he said.

"There was always the danger of our heads being in the clouds after last Saturday, but we should of known that we were not going to get an easy game in a cup tie.

"We struggled to get into the game and I felt that we might go 1-0 down. Saying that we showed a bit of character and spirit to come back, and hopefully the players will learn their lesson that you're only as good as your next game."

Despite losing, Raith manager Jimmy Nicholl was well pleased with his side's efforts.

He said: "I can't fault the players they put in a lot of effort and played some good football. I'm just disappointed we couldn't get the result.

"We made the same basic mistakes in defence at the first goal but as long as the players learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."

But the double sending-off did not impress the Rovers boss. He added: "There was really nothing in it. It was really just a couple of players grappling away.

"And I always think that if there is no blood or if the physio isn't needed then the referees should just step back and look at the situation first. It came at a pressure point of the game but nobody got hurt."

Taken from sportinglife.com