Queen of the South 0-0 East Fife (3-5 pens), Viaplay Cup Group G MD4

Tuesday 25^th July 2023, Palmerston Park

East Fife have taken another step closer to the second round of the Viaplay Cup after another penalty win against higher tier opposition. Palmerston Park hosted a fiery contest on Tuesday Night which panned out in a similar fashion to that of the opening game of the group stage against Queen’s Park. The Fifers soaked up a tremendous amount of pressure and tried to hit the Dumfries side on the break, although they were not effective enough in front of goal to break the deadlock.

The majority of the first half was played in the middle of the park with very little chances to show for the action on display, though it was the Queens who took control of the match early on. The midfield battle was much tighter than most may have expected however, and the Fifers held their own for the entire contest. The first chance still fell for the opposition however, as Connolly’s pace allowed him to float a ball into the box from the by-line, but Gavin Reilly’s header was well over, causing no trouble for Fleming in between the sticks. Shortly after, Liam Newton had a wayward strike of his own which similar to the Reilly’s did not hassle the goalkeeper in the slightest.

The next chance for either team once again came to the hosts, as Mimnaugh played a fantastic switch over to Walker, just after the half an hour mark, who cut in from the wing and has his shot deflected wide for a corner. Other than a Queen’s booking late in the proceedings, that was all the action that the first half had to offer.

In the second period, the Fifers started to bed themselves into the game a bit more and create some better chances of their own, rather than the lopsided affair which we originally seen in the first 45. The first of these came from a great challenge by Pat Slattery who lashed the ball out to Schiavone on the wing, allowing him to have a crack at the full back. He beat him for pace and slid a ball into the box, but fantastic goalkeeping from Botterill meant that he beat Shepherd to the tap-in.

Shepherd then, with 10 minutes left, made a fantastic run in behind and found himself one on one with Botterill before he was hauled down by freshly subbed McGuffie. As he was denied a clear goalscoring opportunity, the Queen’s player was sent packing, giving East Fife the last 10 minutes with a man advantage. They almost capitalised as well in the 88th minute when Shepherd made another great run into the box. Walls broke away from his defender, but his cross was well over hit, sailing out for a goal-kick, calling on penalties to decide the bonus point.

McManus scored Fife’s opening penalty, to put the underdogs ahead in the tie. This was unable to be matched by Reilly though who’s spot kick was saved by a diving Fleming. Despite Queen of the South going on to score their next three, conversions from Shepherd, Murdoch, Walls and Newton were enough to bring the bonus point back into the Kingdom for the second time in this league cup campaign.

All roads now lead to Saturday where the Fifers face their toughest task yet, Premiership opposition Motherwell on their own patch, Fir Park. 3 points for the Fifers will guarantee us top of the group and a second-round tie in the Viaplay Cup, whereas a penalty shootout whether it be the bonus point or not could be enough for us to sneak through as group runners up depending on other results.

As it stands

Should East Fife lose, results in the group elsewhere could prevent East Fife from finishing in the top two, however, should both East Fife and Queen of the South win, Motherwell too could fall out of the qualifying positions. It is really all to play for on the Final Matchday in Group G of the first stage of the Viaplay Cup.

Mon the Fife!

Report by Oli Anderson

Queen of the South – Botterill, Houston, McKay, Logan, Ambrose, McKechnie, Todd, Mimnaugh, Walker (McGuffie 60’), Reilly, Connelly (Irving 75’). Subs not used: Johnson, Johnstone, Burns, Currie, Frame, Foster, Mendy

East Fife – Fleming, Page, Docherty, Easton, Newton, Millar (McManus 68’), Slattery (Murdoch 81’), Healy (Nicol 60’), Walls, Schiavone (Philp 69’), Austin (Shepherd 45’). Subs not used: Cunningham, Hambrook, Beveridge, Comerford

Referee: Graham Grainger

Attendance: 1,101