Home

Fifers Aiming to Build on Positives

East Fife head to Clackmannanshire tomorrow, to take on Alloa Athletic at the Indodrill Stadium. The Wasps currently occupy eighth position in Division One, but are capable of providing a challenge for a top four place given the talented squad that manager Jim Goodwin has at his disposal.

Although Alloa went down last Saturday to Stranraer at Stair Park, they will have been heartened by gaining a draw away to high-flying Arbroath in their previous outing.

Bayview boss Darren Young meanwhile is looking back to last weekend’s pulsating 5-4 victory against Albion Rovers with a mixture of pride in his players and a determination to iron out defensive lapses. The Fifers showed unbelievable character and resolve to overturn a 4-2 deficit, with three goals in the last ten minutes, including two in injury-time, to see off one of the form teams in the league.

East Fife have found tomorrow’s opponents a difficult nut to crack in the Wee County in recent times, losing all three games there last season against an impressive Alloa side who could consider themselves unfortunate not to gain promotion. March 2011 saw the last three points gained on the road against the Wasps, with a Craig Johnstone double and a Bobby Linn goal doing the damage. Darren Young’s men will however take heart from their only meeting so far this campaign, when Greg Hurst was on target to secure a 1-0 win at Bayview Stadium.   

Fifers Stung By Wasps

Ladbrokes League 1

Saturday 21^st October

Recreation Park

Alloa Athletic 4 (Crossan 25’, Hetherington 45’, Graham 60’, Flannigan 74’)

East Fife 1 (Wilkie 8’)

Alloa Athletic XI: Parry, Robertson, Taggart, Graham, Crane, Cawley (Cook 81’), Flemming, Hetherington, Flannigan, Malcolm (Renton 68’), Crossan (Martin 81’)

Subs: Wilson, Goodwin

Booked: Taggart

East Fife XI: M Hurst, Dunsmore, Piggott, Docherty, Slattery, Flanagan (Wilson 66’), Willis, Millar, G Hurst (Smith 66’), Wilkie, Duggan (Reilly 83’)

Subs: Goodfellow, Lamont, Mutch

Booked: Docherty

Referee: Mike Roncone

Attendance: 556

East Fife travelled to the Indodrill Stadium to face Alloa Athletic but it was the hosts who claimed all three points following a 4-1 win. Manager Darren Young made three injury-enforced changes to the side that produced the stunning comeback against Albion Rovers last time out with Chris Kane, Craig Watson and Scott Linton missing out and being replaced by Kyle Wilkie, Paul Willis and new loan-signing 18-year-old Jordan Piggott, signed from Dundee prior to kick off.

East Fife were in front inside 8 minutes when Wilkie turned his man and unleashed an unstoppable strike past Alloa ‘keeper Neil Parry – his first goal since February 2016. Aside from the goal, the opening 20 minutes were devoid of any real chances; Willis tried his luck from 25-yards at one end but couldn’t find the target before Kevin Cawley had a shot blocked by Piggott at the other the only chances of note during the early exchanges.

Alloa were level on 24 minutes when Mark Hurst spilled Jon Robertson’s cross from the right leaving Paul Joseph Crossan an easy tap in. The goal failed to dent East Fife’s confidence and it was the visitors who continued to create opening in front of goal. Chris Duggan had a shot blocked from close range before last-weekend’s goal-hero Greg Hurst’s shot from 15-yards was narrowly wide of the right-hand post with Parry beaten. The visitors were hit with a sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time however when Steven Hetherington’s free kick from the right-hand touchline evaded everyone and crept into the bottom left-hand corner.

East Fife started the second half on the front foot with Nathan Flanagan spurning two opportunities in front of goal albeit neither of the clear-cut chances before the visitors were hit with a second sucker-punch on the hour mark when Andy Graham fired past Hurst from close range. East Fife protested believing Graham to be in an offside position but referee Mike Roncone wasn’t interested – replays have so far been inconclusive.

Iain Flannigan wrapped up the points for the home side 15 minutes from time with a free kick which found the top left-hand corner. The game largely petered out after that with the home side content to keep position without causing any further threat. East Fife had one final opportunity 5 minutes from time but Piggott header from substitute Kevin Smith’s cross was straight at Parry.

A game that is difficult to sum up. East Fife played well in spells but defensive errors again proving costly.

Fifes On Top in 9-Goal Thriller

Ladbrokes League 1

Saturday 14^th October 2017

Bayview Stadium

East Fife 5 (Duggan 4’, Docherty 42’ (P), G Hurst 80’, 90+3’, Linton 90+1’)

Albion Rovers 4 (Marr 8’, Reid 54’, Vitoria 68’, Trouten 78’)

East Fife XI: M Hurst, Dunsmore, Watson (Wilkie 26’), Kane, Linton, Millar, Slattery, Docherty, Flanagan, Duggan (Smith 71’), G Hurst

Subs: Willis, Wilson, Reilly, Goodfellow, Lamont

Booked: Millar

Albion Rovers XI: Bowman, Reid, Marr, Perry, McLaughlin, Fisher, Holmes, Davidson, Higgins (McMullin 84’), Shields (Vitoria 68’), Trouten

Subs: Guthrie, Potts, Lightbody, McLeish, Watters

Booked: Perry

Referee:  Craig Charleston

Attendance: 502

Where to start?

On-form Albion Rovers were the visitors to Bayview on Saturday but it was the home side who claimed all three points following a nine-goal thriller. Manager Darren Young made one change to the side that lost to Ayr United last time out with Greg Hurst replacing Jonathan Page who was suspended following his red card two weeks ago. There was also a welcome return for club captain Kevin Smith who took his place on the bench after missing the start of the season through injury.

The visitors were unbeaten away from home this season coming into the match and having beaten league leaders Raith Rovers last time out, the Fifers knew this would be a tough encounter. Both sides showed their support for Show Racism the Red Card’s annual fortnight of action prior to kick off.

Alan Trouten should have given the visitors the lead inside the first minute when he beat the offside trap but couldn’t direct his header on target. Rovers were left to rue that miss when Chris Duggan latched onto a long ball from Mark Docherty to lob ‘keeper Graeme Bowman from 20-yards to give East Fife the lead. East Fife ‘keeper Mark Hurst pulled off a good save to deny former Fifer Gary Fisher moments later but the lead didn’t last long with Jason Marr levelling the match minutes later when he got on the end of Chris Higgin’s corner to head past Hurst on 8 minutes.

Duggan had a couple of opportunities to add to the scoring when first some good footwork saw him skip past Ross Davidson and cut inside only to see his shot blocked from close range by the Rover’s defence before he headed narrowly wide after getting on the end of Aaron Dunsmore’s cross from the right. East Fife weren’t having things all their own way, however, with Davidson’s chip clearing the bar following a short corner.

The home side should have extended their lead minutes before the break when Nathan Flanagan got to the by-line and lifted in a cross the was only partially cleared but Scott Linton blasted over from 8-yards with the goal at his mercy. Duggan was continuing to cause problem for the Rover’s defence down the right with a nice turn taking Marr out of the game before being body checked by Alan Reid inside the area giving referee Craig Charleston no option but to point to the spot. Docherty stepped up and sent Bowman the wrong way to score his 5^th goal of the season.

A cracking first half but few could have predicted what was to come in the next 45!

The match was level once again on 53 minutes when Reid rose highest to turn Higgin’s free kick past Hurst and into the net. Kyle Wilkie went close to restoring East Fife’s lead on 56 minutes with a snap shot from the edge of the area that just cleared the bar. Joao Victoria was introduced for the visitors just after the hour mark and it proved to be an inspired substitution when he gave Albion Rovers the lead for the first time in the match following a mix up in the home defence. Victoria almost added his second of the match moments later but was denied by a goal line clearance from Docherty

Victoria turned provider next when he laid the ball off for Alan Trouten to pass the ball into an unguarded net to give the visitors a 2-goal lead with 12 minutes to play. Few would believe what was about to unfold!

East Fife pulled one goal back shortly after the re-start when Docherty’s free kick was poorly cleared by the Albion Rovers defence and Greg Hurst was on hand to tap home from 5-yards. The visitors were hanging on while East Fife continued to press for an equaliser and it duly came as the clock ticked past 90 minutes. Aaron Dunsmore was bundled over by McLaughlin 20-yards from goal and up stepped Scott Linton to curl a near-perfect free kick over the wall into the top right-hand corner to level the match.

East Fife had recused a point but they weren’t done yet! Greg Hurst was denied by some last-ditch defence by Marr after a complete mix-up between the defender and his goalkeeper. What happened next will go down in East Fife folklore. Dunsmore won the ball on the half-way line, laid the ball off for Docherty the pick up again on the right-hand touchline following a nice flick-on from Flanagan before hitting the by-line and squaring the ball across the face of goal. Smith kept the ball alive at the back post before Hurst bundled the ball over the line with the last kick of the ball to spark mass celebrations in the home end.

A fantastic game that will be remember for years to come.