Ladbrokes League 1, Glebe Park, Saturday 10th December 2016
Brechin City 0
East Fife 1 (Robinson 10’)
Man of the Match: Scott Robinson
East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Mercer, Slattery, Kane, Page, Kerr, Brown (O’Hara 86’), Wilkie, Wallace, Robinson, Austin (Insall 76’)
Subs Not Used: Hurst, Mutch, Smith
Booked: Robinson
Dismissed: Robinson
Brechin City XI: G Smith, Ford, Dyer, E Smith, Hill, Rodger (McCormack 52’), Trouten, Caldwell, Buchanan (Love 65’), Lynas
Subs Not Used: Dods, McLean, O’Neil
Booked: Trouten, Hill, Love
Dismissed: Ford
Referee: Steven Kirkland
Attendance: 414
East Fife won their first Ladbrokes League 1 match since September with a well-deserved victory against Brechin City thanks to an 11th minute Scott Robinson strike. It was a score line that didn’t reflect the performance as the visitors could have easily won by more than one goal. East Fife made two changes to the side that beat Edinburgh City on Wednesday with Jamie Insall and Kevin Smith making way for Tony Wallace and Jordan Austin.
East Fife fired the warning signs early with Scott Mercer and Pat Slattery going close before Robinson opened the scoring in the 11th minute. After Jordan Austin challenged the Brechin defence in the air, Ross Brown picked up a loose ball in midfield and picked out Robinson in space whose first time strike from the edge of the box rifled past Graeme Smith for his second goal of the season. Kyle Wilkie saw his shot deflected behind from a corner before home ‘keeper Smith saved well from Mercer’s free kick on 19 minutes.
Brechin were looking dangerous on the break and Ryan Goodfellow had to be alert to deny Robbie Buchannan after being put through by Alan Trouten before Finn Graham fired narrowly over from 20-yards. Robinson had a great chance to double the visitor’s lead on 24 minutes when he was played in by Slattery but lifted his shot narrowly over the bar under pressure from Gareth Rodger. East Fife finished the half strongest and Mercer forced Smith into another fine save after he cut in from the left. Robinson picked up the first booking on the game 10 minutes before half-time when he caught Rodger late on the touchline.
It was more of the same after the interval with Robinson pulling another fine save from Smith before the ‘keeper just managed to get to the ball before Jordan Austin from a Mercer free kick. Former ‘Fifer Darren McCormack should have levelled the tie for the home side on 74 minutes but somehow managed to put the ball over the bar at the back post from a couple of yards.
Robinson was hero-turned-villain when he was sent for an early bath for a second bookable offence on 68 minutes. With a man advantage, Brechin began to pile on the pressure but the East Fife defence held firm with Ryan Goodfellow producing two excellent saves to protect his clean sheet. The home side were also reduced to 10-men when Elliot Ford was dismissed for a rash challenge on Slattery in injury time.
After the match Dougie Anderson spoke to East Fife TV:
“The players are buzzing, they thoroughly deserve it and what a performance. I thought in the first half we dominated, we won the ball back quickly, we used the ball well, and they won all their battles on the pitch and a great finish from Scott Robinson as well. I thought it was a really good first 45 and we knew Brechin were going to come back at us but to be honest, apart from maybe the last 10 minutes, they didn’t really threaten us at all and I thought it was a really good performance from 1-11.