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Fifers Knocked Out of Scottish Cup by Brora Rangers

William Hill Scottish Cup

Saturday 20^th January 2018

Bayview Stadium

East Fife 0

Brora Rangers 1 (Williamson 11’)

East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Dunsmore, Kane, Page, Linton, Millar (Thomson 45’), Slattery, Lamont (Wilson 81’), Wilkie, Smith, Duggan

Subs: Watson, Mutch, Cordery, Willis

Booked: Wilkie

Brora Rangers XI: Malin, Pickles, Duff, Williamson (Ross 82’), MacDonald, Graham, MacLean, Morrison, Nicolson, MacKay (Pickles 76’), Sutherland (Brindle 83’)

Subs: MacLeod, Lisle, Campbell, Hoban

Booked: Pickles, MacDonald, Graham, Brindle

Referee: David Munro

Attendance: 685

East Fife crashed out of the Scottish Cup following a 1-0 defeat at home to Highland League side Brora Rangers. Manager Darren Young made one change to the side that conquered Alloa Athletic last time out with Kevin Smith replacing the injured Mark Docherty in the starting line-up.

As with the previous game, the home side were slow to get into the game, with the visitors looking the sharper side in the early stages and almost opened the scoring on the 7^th minute when good build up play saw the ball fall to Mark Nicolson on the edge of the area but he could only drag his shot wide of target. The warning signs had been there for East Fife and they found themselves behind with 11 minutes played when Colin Williamson was allowed to head home unchallenged from Gavin Morrison’s corner. Steven MacKay had the chance to double the lead on 23 minutes when he got on the end of a free kick but his header was straight at Ryan Goodfellow in the East Fife goal.

East Fife had their first real opportunity on 36 minutes when Scott Linton won the ball in the middle of the park, laid the ball off for Pat Slattery who picked out Chris Duggan with a cross from the left but his shot was well blocked by the Brora defence. Linton sent a free kick wide of the post from 25-yards on 37 minutes in the only other action of note in the first half.

East Fife introduced new signing Craig Thomson from the bench at the start of the second half and almost and an immediate impact when he twice broke through the Brora defence but found he cross deflected behind for a corner on both occasions. The home side had certainly started the second half better than the first and had their first chance of an equaliser on 53 minutes when Kevin Smith knocked down Mark Lamont cross into the path of Slattery but his right-footed effort was wide of the right-hand post.

Ally MacDonald went close for the visitors on 54 minutes when he narrowly failed to turn Scott Graham’s cross into the net before East Fife should have equalised a minutes later. Duggan took advantage of a poor pass back from MacKay to take the ball round Brora ‘keeper Joe Malin but just missed the target from a tight angle. East Fife were agonisingly close to an equaliser again on 57 minutes when Linton just clipped the outside of the post with a free kick from the edge of the box.

Smith made a good break forward on 73 minutes and played in Thomson down the right who cut inside but his right-footed effort flashed past the post as East Fife continued to press. Chris Kane had one final opportunity to force a replay when he got on the end of Thomson’s cross from the right but his downward header was wide of target.

Craig Thomson Joins East Fife

We are delighted to announce that Craig Thomson has agreed a deal to join East Fife making him Darren Young’s first signing of the transfer window. He goes straight into the squad for today’s game.

22-year-old Craig started his career at local side Kennoway United before joining to St. Johnstone youth academy in 2008, turning professional in 2011. He went on to make 27 first team appearances for the Perth side. Craig also completed two successful loan spells with, first, Elgin City in 2014/2015, and then with Stranraer last season.

Welcome to Bayview Craig!

Fifers Aiming for Place in Last Sixteen

East Fife take a break from league action tomorrow afternoon when they take on Highland League side Brora Rangers in the fourth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup. Ross Tokely’s men make the long journey south from Sutherland hopeful that they can take another SPFL scalp, having disposed of Stranraer at Stair Park in the previous round thanks to a Steven Mackay strike deep into stoppage time to secure a 1-0 win.

Bayview boss Darren Young was delighted with his side’s 2-1 success at home to on-form Alloa Athletic last week. It was a good all round performance in all departments from the Fifers, topped off by two excellent goals by midfielders Mark Lamont and Mark Docherty. Visitors Brora were also in action for the first time in three weeks, earning a hard fought 2-2 draw at Buckie Thistle. 

The two sides have previously faced each other on only one occasion in a competitive fixture. Back in August 2014 the Methil men had to come from behind twice to secure a 3-2 win in the Challenge Cup at Dudgeon Park. Nathan Austin scored a late winner in that midweek tie, with Jon McShane firing home a double. Steven Mackay and Zander Sutherland were the men on target for the Cattachs, with both players expected to feature tomorrow for the high scoring visitors. 

East Fife’s injury woes took a turn for the better last week with club captain Kevin Smith making an appearance as substitute and manager Darren Young is hopeful that defender Craig Watson is not  too far away from a welcome return to the squad.

Supporters of both clubs are reminded that they are welcome to enjoy refreshments at the stadium bars before and after the game.