East Fife travelled west to the Rock to take on 2nd placed Dumbarton. East Fife triumphed 2-0 in last encounter between the sides however Dumbarton prevailed in the other two meeting so far this season. Last weekend, East Fife thrashed Stranraer 8-0 at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium thanks to a Scott Shepherd brace, a couple of own goals and goals from Alex Ferguson, Ryan Schiavone, Sam Denham and Connor Young.
Unsurprisingly, Manager Greig McDonald made no changes to the starting eleven that destroyed Stranraer last time out, but Alan Trouten was free to return to the bench after serving his one game suspension.
In the 3rd minute Dumbarton drove forward with the ball eventually finding the feet of Kalvin Orsi on the right wing who cut inside and unleashed an effort the smashed off the post before being cleared by the East Fife men.
In the 16th minute, Dumbarton had another chance to take the lead when Wylde played a quick one-two with Byrne to get himself into a shooting position, but his first-time shot was wide of the post, keeping the score at 0-0
Nearing the end of the first half, East Fife had their first real chance of the match when Ferguson’s corner was lifted back into the danger area by Murdoch where is was met by Connor McManus who’s looping header dropped just wide of the post.
HALF TIME: Dumbarton 0-0 East Fife
In the 56th minute East Fife were awarded a penalty when Shepherd was taken out inside the area by Sons full-back Aaron Lynas. Ferguson stepped up to take the spot kick but was denied by a good save from former Fifer Brett Long in the Dumbarton goal.
Despite the penalty miss, East Fife were now the side in the ascendency and had another opening when Healy cut the ball across goal for Ferguson, but he couldn’t get enough behind his shot to challenge long as Long.
With 20 minutes to go, Dumbarton took the lead when a long throw from Lynas was deflected through to Martin McNiff, inside the six-yard box, with the Dumbarton man turning a firing the ball home past Fleming, giving Dumbarton a 1-0.
As the game neared the end, Dumbarton are awarded a questionable penalty kick when Denham was adjudged to have fouled substitute McLean inside the box. Fellow substitute Stuart Carswell stepped up to take the penalty for the Sons, but was denied by a fine save from Fleming.
FULL TIME: Dumbarton 1-0 East Fife
An eventful second half saw the Sons narrowly secure all three points. Fortunately, however, with Stenhousemuir and Forfar Athletic both losing, East Fife remained in fourth and still in that coveted wanted playoff spot. Next up is a home fixture against bottom of the league Albion Rovers.
Dumbarton: Long, Buchanan, Lynas, Grant, McNiff, Wylde (McLean 63’), Orsi, Wilson (Vata 80’), Gray, Blair (Carswell 63’), Byrne
East Fife: Fleming, Murdoch, Steele, Newton, Denham, McManus (Steven 84’), Healy, Walls (Denholm 71’), Ferguson, Schiavone (Trouten 71’), Shepherd (Young 81’)
Referee: Ross Hardie
Attendance: 557
Report by Andrew Laing