East Fife welcomed Stenhousemuir to Bayview on Tuesday night for the 8th league game of the season. The Methil men went into the game off the back of a 2-2 draw against Annan Athletic at the weekend and the team were looking to gain as many points as possible to further their quest for success.
Stevie Crawford made one change to the team that drew with Annan at the weekend. Lucas Williamson was taken out with Jack Healy was brought in to replace him. Brogan Walls, Connor McManus and Scott Gallagher all continue to miss out through injury.
The visitors got the ball rolling and the game underway. East Fife had an early chance in the 4th minute when mercer’s rifled pass into the box met Healy however, he failed to get the ball under control and the Stenhosuemuir goalkeeper was able to collect. A few minutes later, Stenhousemuir had a chance to take the lead, when Yeats, on the by-line, cut the ball back into the six-yard box, the ball was flicked on by Sewell to the onrushing Yates but his effort is well blocked by Steele.
At the 30-minute mark, Stenhosuemuir were forced into a change due to an injury to former East Fife man Higgins with Crobett brought on to replace him. Straight into the action, Corbett had a chance to open the scoring, as header ping pong led to the ball landing at the feet of Corbett, however the deflected shot dropped narrowly over the bar. 5 minutes later Fleming pulled off an incredible diving save to stop Yates’s curling effort from hitting the back of the net.
East Fife took the lead in the 39th minute when a long throw, was cleared as far as Healy on the edge of the box whose incredible strike sailed over the keeper and into the top corner, giving the home side the lead going into the break.
Half-Time: East Fife 1-0 Stenhousemuir
Ten minutes into the second half, East Fife had a chance to double their advantage when, on the counter-attack, Healy and Shepherd played a one-two resulting in Healy having acres of space on the right side to play a cross into the onrushing Trouten, however the ball just skipped away from him.
With 25 minutes to go, Stenhousemuir levelled the game at one each. With Healy on the ground injured, Yates, on the right wing, played a pass into the six-yard box, met by Euan O’Reilly at the back post to convert it into an empty net. Directly after the goal Healy went off injured to be replaced by Joao Balde with Ryan Schiavone also replacing Taylor Steven.
With ten minutes remaining of the game, Crawford made his third and final change as Liam Newton came on for Trouten. Straight after the substitution, East Fife were reduced to 10-mean when Kieran Millar was dismissed for a foul on Brown which was deemed by the referee to warrant a red card.
With the fifers down to ten, the visitors took the lead with six minutes to go. O’Reilly cut in from the left to a shooting position on the edge of the box. His low shot took looked to be heading straight into the arms of Fleming however a horrid deflection took the ball over him and into the back of the net. After three minutes of additional time, the referee blew his full-time whistle.
The Fifers are travelling to Gayfield to face Championship side against Arbroath on Saturday and the team will be looking forward to test themselves against higher opposition.
Full-Time: East Fife 1-2 Stenhousemuir
Andrew Laing
East Fife: Fleming, Mercer, Denham, Steele, Murdoch, Healy (Balde 66’), Millar, Ferguson, Steven (Schiavone 66’), Trouten (Newton 80’), Shepherd
Stenhousemuir: Brennan, Jamieson, Crighton, Higgins (Corbett 31’), Miller, Forbes (Joseph 76’), Wedderburn, Brown, Yeats (O’Reilly 45’), Sewell (Orr 45’), Yates
Referee: Callum Scott
Attendance: 404