Betfred League Cup Group B
Tuesday 25th July 2017
Bayview Stadium
East Fife 3 (Duggan 57’, Docherty 66’ (P), Willis 82’)
Elgin City 2 (Reilly 49, 79,)
East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Dunsmore, Docherty, Watson, Slattery, Wilson, Millar, Flanagan (Inglis 89’), Willis, Duggan, Reilly (Wilkie 78’)
Subs: Young
Elgin City XI: Waters, Cooper, Smith, McHardy, Bronsky, McGovern, Dodd (Reid 62’), Cameron, Reilly, Sutherland (McLeish 75’), Allan (McKinnon 83’)
Subs: Eadie, Wilson, Dear
Booked: Allan, McHardy
Referee: Scott Millar
Attendance: 331
Elgin City were the visitors to Bayview on matchday 4 of the Betfred Cup where East Fife ran out 3-2 winners after an entertaining second half. Manager Darren Young made one change to the side the lost to Hearts at the weekend with Nathan Flanagan replacing defender Ben Gordon who was serving his suspension for the red card picked up last time out.
The visitor has the first chance of the match when Jordan Allan broke forward at pace, his shot beating Ryan Goodfellow in the East Fife goal but Craig Watson was on hand to stop the ball on the line. East Fife enjoying the majority of the possession but it was Elgin who enjoyed the better chances in the first half and had a strong penalty claim waved away by referee Scott Millar on 21 minutes. Goodfellow had to be alert shortly before the break to keep out a goal-bound header from Stephen Bronsky.
Elgin took the lead 3 minutes after the interval when Thomas Reilly’s free kick from the stand-side touchline evaded everyone to creep into the bottom corner. East Fife reacted well to going a goal down and scored a deserved equaliser on 58 minutes when Chris Duggan found the back of the net from close range – the first East Fife goal of 2017/2018 much to the relief of the home fans.
Kyle Wilson went close to adding a second a minute later when he latched on to a through ball from Mark Docherty but Elgin ‘keeper Marc Waters was out quickly to collect. Paul Willis was next to go close for the home side but his shot from close range to a deflection on its way through before East Fife were awarded a penalty on 65 minutes when Pat Slattery was taken out in the box. Docherty placed the ball on the spot and found the corner to put East Fife in front for the first time in the match.
Duggan could have added a third on 72 minutes when he robbed Daryl McHardy in midfield and raced in on goal; his first shot saved by Waters before sending the follow-up narrowly over. Willis had the ball in the net a minute later after getting on the end of a cross from Nathan Flanagan but the flag was raised for offside against the winger. Kieran Millar was next to have a go with a shot 8-yards but Waters did well to save with his legs.
Elgin grabbed an equaliser against the run of play when Reilly latched onto a loose ball to score his second of the match. The goal was harsh on East Fife as they had been by far the better side in the second half but they weren’t to be denied a first win of the season. Nathan Flanagan, who had been causing problem for the visitors all game, unleashed a shot that Waters could only parry into the path a Willis to score what proved to be the winner.
Some shaky moments but a thoroughly deserved and confidence boosting win for East Fife just in time for the start of the league campaign in a couple of weeks.