St. Johnstone 5-1 East Fife, Saturday 27th July 2024
Premier Sports Cup Group F MD5, McDiarmid Park
Facing defeat for the first time this season, East Fife’s final game in the Premier Sports Cup most certainly did not go to plan, as they fell 5-1 to Premiership side St. Johnstone.
A strong start from the Fifers could not be maintained, as the floodgates slowly but surely opened for the Saints. Results from elsewhere in the group meant that St. Johnstone leapfrogged us, and Alloa Athletic, to top the group after the resounding win.
East Fife had a half chance early door when Healy broke behind St. Johnstone’s defensive lines. He whipped a decent ball in, though it was no match for Rae in the Saints goal.
St. Johnstone took the lead after a quarter of an hour through Sibideh, who took advantage of some space in the box to head home from close range.
It was two just ten minutes later, when Benji Kimpioka tapped home for the Saints. Andre Raymond’s pass was deadly, and the forward made no mistake in doubling their advantage.
With just minutes left in the half, Alan Trouten rattled the crossbar, which would prove to be a decisive moment, as St Johnstone would go down the other end and slot home number 3 through Sidibeh following a ball in behind the East Fife defence.
The second half was a tetchy affair, with East Fife making a very positive start to the second period. Scott Shepherd had a great shot, which was spilled by Joshua Rae, giving Alan Trouten the chance to tap home, giving the Fifers a lifeline.
Slowly but surely, East Fife started to edge into the game more and more, and with just five minutes to go, Andy Munro could have made it two for East Fife, if it weren’t for the heroics of the Saints’ goalkeeper.
The sucker punch came just minutes later when Kirk stepped up for St Johnstone, handing back the Saints’ three goal lead, which they would go on to further extend in the dying embers.
It was Kimpioka who grabbed the fifth, and closed out the scoring, after a tough day at the office for East Fife.
Reporter’s Man of the Match: Alan Trouten.
A solid opening to the game made me hopeful that we would have had much to celebrate come Friday evening, though St. Johnstone showed their class and controlled proceedings. With that being said, one man who still found himself in the chances was Alan Trouten, with the creative player bagging East Fife’s only goal, and causing Rae to be put under some pressure at crucial points in the game, such as him rattling the crossbar.
St. Johnstone – Rae, Raymond (Franczak 73’), Cameron, McClelland, Keltjens, MacPherson (Kucheriavyi 56’), Steven (Carey 85’), Wright, M Smith, Sidibeh (Kirk 74’), Mbunga-Kimpioka 90+1’). Subs not used: Sanderson, Sinclair, C Smith, Sprangler, Parker.
East Fife – McFarlane, Murdoch, Easton, Peggie, Munro, Newton (Nicol 80’), Millar, Norey, Healy (Laaref 76’), Shepherd (McManus 76’), Trouten. Subs not used: Fleming, Slattery, Docherty, Murray, Ramsay.
Referee – Don Robertson
Attendance – 2,424