East Fife made the hike down south to play Annan Athletic for the 7th League match of the season. Last time out Stevie Crawford’s side lost out to Dumbarton, however the team were very determined to put that behind them and pick some points on the road.
Two changes were made to the team that were beaten by Dumbarton as Lucas Williamson and Taylor Steven were both added to the first eleven with João Balde and Liam Newton named on the bench alongside new signings Reece Beveridge and St. Johnstone loanee Liam Parker.
Alex Ferguson got the game underway and East Fife had an early chance after 5 minutes when Mercer’s drilled pass from the right wing found the feet of Scott Shepherd, however he struggled to get the ball out of his feet and couldn’t direct the ball toward goal. East Fife took the lead in the 12th minute after a lofted ball over the top of the Annan defence found Shepherd again who rolls the ball past the onrushing Greg Fleming, putting the Fifers 1-0 up.
In the 15th minute, Annan had their first real chance of the game when a short corner found Chris Johnston at the back post, who dinked cross into the centre of the box which picked out Tommy Goss who headed well wide from 5-yards. Another chance fell the way of the home side when a poor clearance dropped to Tommy Muir, but his shot was straight at Allan Fleming.
On the half hour mark, East Fife doubled their advantage, as a beautifully lobbed pass down the middle and with Shepherd putting pressure on the Annan defence, the ball was lobbed over the head of the Annan ‘keeper, putting East Fife up two nil to the good. Shepherd claimed the goal however the referee later confirmed that it had been recorded as an own goal by Scott Hooper. Other than a yellow card for Annan’s Lowdon the remainder of the first half went by fairly uneventfully.
The Galabankies began the half all guns blazing as they looked to drag themselves back into the game. The first of chance came in the 55th minute as a deflected shots drops to the head of Tony Wallace however, with some good reactions from Fleming, the ball enters his hands safely. Shortly after East Fife made a double substitution as Steven and Williamson were replaced by Balde and Newton.
Annan pull a goal back as a deflected shot from substitute Benjamin Lussint found the path of Goss directly in front of goal who placed the ball into the back of the net. A few minutes later Annan equalise the game through a second from Goss who outmuscled Steele to find himself in front of goal and roll the ball into the far corner.
With the game coming to a close, East Fife had one last chance to win the game as the ball fell to Ferguson on the edge of the box, however his shot is dragged narrowly wide of the post. Shortly after the referee blew the full time ending a second onslaught from Annan.
Despite being 2 goals up, East Fife will not be too disappointed picking up only a point. The next fixture is a home game against 5th place Stenhousemuir on Tuesday, the team will be looking to get maximum points at Bayview in the evening kick off.
Andrew Laing
Annan Athletic Team: Fleming, Barner (Lussint 45’), Hooper, Kilsby, Lowdon (Hunter 45’), Johnston, Lyon (McCartney 65’), Docherty, Wallace, Muir, Goss
East Fife Team: Fleming, Mercer (Healy 84’), Steele, Denham, Murdoch, Steven (Newton 66’), Millar, Ferguson, Williamson (Balde 66’), Trouten, Shepherd (Schiavone 82’)
Referee: Barry Cook
Attendance: 318