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Match Report - Stenhousemuir

East Fife returned to Ochilview just two weeks after losing 2-1 to Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Cup. Greig McDonald & co were hoping to make amends and pick up maximum points in the league fixture.

No changes to the team that beat Elgin City last week as Scott Mercer kept the captain’s armband in the absence of the injured Stewart Murdoch.

Stenhousemuir had an early opening in the 10^th minute when Philp was played through, down the right, and played a pass across the face of goal for the on running O’Reilly who can’t get to ball quick enough and the ball goes out for a goal kick. 

The Warriors took the lead in the 20^th minute, Philip played a 1-2 with brown on the edge of the box before firing a low shot into the bottom corner.

Stenhousemuir came close to adding a second on the half hour mark. Yates, with a free kick on the edge of the area, found Wedderburn inches from the goal line however Fleming managed to make the save before Parker completed the clearance.

East Fife had their first real chance of the game on the 35th minute when Mercer’s cross from the right picked out Balde however his header is over the bar.

The second half came to an end after little happenings in the final ten minutes of the half. 

Half-Time: Stenhousemuir 1-0 East Fife

Ten minutes into the second half, East Fife were clearly pushing and went close in the 55^th minute when Balde whipped in a well-placed cross, but the outstretched Denham can’t reach the ball and Stenny knock it behind for a corner. 

In the 63^rd minute the home side had a chance to double to advantage when Forbes who forced Fleming into an incredible diving save. 

With the game opening up, the Fifers were presented with another chance when Trouten’s cross to the back post found Ferguson who headed the ball back across goal to Shepherd who just can’t seem to get anything on the ball to turn it into the net. 

Despite severely pressuring the Stenhousemuir goal, it wasn’t until the 71st minute that East Fife found the breakthrough. Ex-fifer Higgins hauled down Shepherd inside the box with the referee immediately pointing to the spot and pulling out a red card for Higgins for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Trouten stepped up to take the penalty and calmly slots it home, sending the keeper the wrong way, to equalise the game up for the Methil men. 

Stenhousemuir responded well to conceding and, almost immediately after, forced Fleming to turn Philps effort behind for a corner. The home side retook the lead from the resulting corner when Miller who heads home Yates corner.

With Parker and Denham being replaced by Newton and Steven, East Fife really craved the equalising goal. In the 83^rd minute, Trouten had a golden opportunity to score the desired equaliser when Steven drilled a low pass to the on rushing Trouten at the back post but Brennan pull off a miraculous save to keep at 2-1.

With it looking like Stenhousemuir would hold firm, Jack Healy popped up to do what he does best in the 92^nd minute when he smashed home the equaliser with a stunning effort from 20-yards giving Brennan no chance.

Shortly after, the referee blew up for full time, ending an exciting second half of football. Up next for East Fife is a home fixture against 9^th placed Albion Rovers and the team will be wanting to go extend their unbeaten run to 5 league matches.

Full-Time: Stenhousemuir 2-2 East Fife

Andrew Laing