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Superb cup victory at Livingston

William Hill Scottish Cup 4^th Round, Tony Macaroni Stadium, Saturday 21^st January 2017

Livingston 0

East Fife 1 (Paterson 27’)

Man of the Match: Nicki Paterson

Livingston XI: Kelly, Lithgow, Crighton, Byrne, Pittman, Buchanan, Mullen, Cadden (Carrick 83’), De Vita (Mullin 65’), Halkett, Gallagher

Subs Not Used: Maley, Longridge, Sinclair, Sampson, Ogilvie

Booked: Halkett

East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Slattery, Kane, Page, Kerr, Brown (Lamont 76’), Smith, Robinson, Insall (Duggan 82’), Penrice, Paterson

Subs Not Used: Cordery, Austin, Mutch

Booked: Brown, Kane, Slattery, Robinson

Referee: Colin Steven

Attendance: 726

East Fife are through to the 5^th round of the William Hill Scottish Cup following a 1-0 win over fellow League 1 side Livingston. Manager Barry Smith made two changes to the side that drew with Airdrieonians the previous week with Mark Hurst and Mark Lamont making way for Ryan Goodfellow and Kevin Smith.

Livingston should have taken the lead on 8 minutes when Nicky Cadden fired a great cross into the box but Rafa De vita could only lift the ball over the bar from a couple of yards. The home side had another couple of chances in the first 20 minutes first when Liam Buchanan forced Goodfellow to turn his header behind for a corner before Alan Lithgow headed over at the back post from Cadden’s cross. East Fife’s first real effort in front of goal came on 18 minutes when Livi keeper Liam Kelly managed to tip Jamie Insall’s header over the bar. East Fife were growing into the game had had another good opportunity to go ahead on 26 minutes when Insall’s overhead kick went narrowly wide after Jonathan Page had headed on Paterson’s corner.

East Fife took the lead on 27 minutes in spectacular fashion when Paterson found the back of the net with a volley from 25-yards. Goodfellow was forced to tip a free kick from Cadden over the bar on 34 minutes before Paterson had the chance to double East Fife’s lead 10 minutes before half-time but this time his strike was narrowly wide.

After the break there were chances aplenty for both sides. A header by Jason Kerr was easily saved by formed Fifer Kelly and Insall headed wide for the visitors. Goodfellow was called into action on 62 minutes when he pulled off an excellent save from Rada de Vita’s deflected strike and gain on 75 minutes to deny Scott Pittman. Pittman was involved again 5 minutes later but he pulled his shot wide after good work by substitute Josh Mullin.

Substitute Lamont should have put the tie to bed 10 minutes from time when he was played in by Smith but Kelly was out quickly to block. Livingston pressed for an equaliser and were piling forward at every opportunity. Liam Buchanan saw his close range shot saved by Goodfellow before Dale Carrick’s follow-up rebounded off the bar. The home side has one last chance to force a replay into injury time but Danny Mullen’s header was cleared off the line by Jonathan Page.

After the match Manager Barry Smith spoke to East Fife TV:

“I’m delighted for the boys, the effort they put into that game and a bit of quality wins it. They had to defend extremely well in the latter part of the game but Livingston were always going to throw everything at it, they were taking chances, they were gambling so they were going to get chances and we understand that. The boys defended brilliantly, threw themselves in front of things and as I say the one bit of quality in the game won it.”

“We knew what we were getting when Nicki [Paterson] came, I’m not sure if we’ll get strikes like that every week but that’s what he’s capable of and that’s why we brought him to the club. Goody [Ryan Goodfellow] has been out for a few weeks and to come in and plays as well as he did is credit to him. The whole team put in a tremendous performance to get into the next round and that was the important thing.”

Airdrieonians highlights

Highlights of Saturday's drawn game at Airdrie are now available to view on EFtv

Unbeaten run extends to 8 games after draw at Airdrie

Ladbrokes League 1, Excelsior Stadium, Saturday 14^th January 2017

Airdrieonians 2 (Ryan 26’, Leitch 89’)

East Fife 2 (Kerr 45’, Brown 74’)

Man of the Match: Jason Kerr

East Fife XI: Hurst, Slattery, Kane (Austin 90’), Page, Kerr, Lamont, Brown, Robinson, Insall (Duggan 84’), Penrice, Paterson

Subs Not Used: Mutch, Trialist

Booked: Austin

Airdrieonians XI: Ferguson, McIntosh, Boateng (McKay 78’), Gorman, MacDonald, Conroy, Stewart, Hutton, Ryan, Leitch, Brown (Russell 75’)

Subs Not Used: Cairns, Higgins, Louden, Thomson, Kerr

Booked: Conroy

Referee: Alan Newlands

Attendance: 833

East Fife’s winning run came to an end but they still managed to pick up a hard-fought point following a 2-2 draw with Airdrieonians. East Fife made two changed to the side that beat Stenhosuemuir with Mark Lamont and new signing Nicki Paterson replacing the departed duo of Kevin O’Hara and Scott Mercer.

13 minutes in East Fife had their first chance of the match when Rohan Ferguson was unable to cleanly collect Lamont’s corner however Kerr was unable to connect cleanly and the ball trickled wide. Almost immediately the home side had their first opportunity in front of goal after good work by Scott Stewart down the right but Andy Ryan was off-balance and fired wide. Airdrieonians took the lead on 26 minutes when Stewart broke forward following an East Fife corner and two passes later Ryan had the ball in the back of the net. East Fife grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Kerr rose highest to head home Lamont’s corner for his 5^th goal of the season.

The home side enjoyed the majority of the possession and attempts in front of goal for the first 20 minutes of the second half. After a series of corners a strong drive from Adam Brown was turned round the post by Mark Hurst before Ryan curled the ball narrowly wide following another breakaway move. East Fife began to grow into the game in the final quarter a took the lead on 74 minutes when Ross Brown to get on the end of a cross from Kevin Smith and steer his header past Rohan Ferguson into the bottom corner

Airdrieonians were pressing for an equaliser and Kerr was on hand to block a goal-bound effort from Jack Leitch on 82 minutes. The home side scored a deserved equaliser with a minute left of normal time with Leitch got on the end of a cut-back by substitute Jack McKay. The visitors almost left with all three points in injury time but Ferguson was able to turn Nicki Paterson’s free kick behind for a corner.

A run of 6 straight wins came to an end but a point means East Fife are now only 4 points behind 2^nd placed Alloa Athletic with a game in hand.

After the match Manager Barry Smith spoke to East Fife TV:

“The position we were in we’re disappointed. When you’re 2-1 up going into the last few minutes of the game but in terms of the game a draw was probably a fair result. It shows what that dressing room is like they are disappointed but they shouldn’t be because we’re on a good run at the moment and we remain unbeaten, I think its 6 or 7 games. They shouldn’t be downbeat they should be looking positively towards next week’s game.”