East Fife take a break from league action tomorrow, but Barry Smith is looking forward to the challenge of taking his charges further in the Scottish Cup. Speaking earlier today the Bayview boss acknowledged the task the Methil men face to reach the last sixteen of the competition.
"Although we won the last meeting between the sides we will have to be at our very best if we want to be in the draw fror the next round on Sunday. It could also be good financially for the club, but we have got to concentrate on tomorrow first."
Smith also reported that Ryan Goodfellow will return to the squad, with Tony Wallace and Kyle Wilkie still sidelined through injury.
The two clubs have met twice before in the competition, both in Methil. In 1990 a Paul Hunter hat-trick secured a 3-1 win against Meadowbank Thistle in the third round, while 11 years later it was the renamed Livingston who progressed at the same stage after a 4-1 victory.
Highlights of Saturday's drawn game at Airdrie are now available to view on EFtv
Post match interviews with manager Barry Smith and latest signing Nicki Paterson are now available to view on EFtv
Ladbrokes League 1, Excelsior Stadium, Saturday 14th January 2017
Airdrieonians 2 (Ryan 26’, Leitch 89’)
East Fife 2 (Kerr 45’, Brown 74’)
Man of the Match: Jason Kerr
East Fife XI: Hurst, Slattery, Kane (Austin 90’), Page, Kerr, Lamont, Brown, Robinson, Insall (Duggan 84’), Penrice, Paterson
Subs Not Used: Mutch, Trialist
Booked: Austin
Airdrieonians XI: Ferguson, McIntosh, Boateng (McKay 78’), Gorman, MacDonald, Conroy, Stewart, Hutton, Ryan, Leitch, Brown (Russell 75’)
Subs Not Used: Cairns, Higgins, Louden, Thomson, Kerr
Booked: Conroy
Referee: Alan Newlands
Attendance: 833
East Fife’s winning run came to an end but they still managed to pick up a hard-fought point following a 2-2 draw with Airdrieonians. East Fife made two changed to the side that beat Stenhosuemuir with Mark Lamont and new signing Nicki Paterson replacing the departed duo of Kevin O’Hara and Scott Mercer.
13 minutes in East Fife had their first chance of the match when Rohan Ferguson was unable to cleanly collect Lamont’s corner however Kerr was unable to connect cleanly and the ball trickled wide. Almost immediately the home side had their first opportunity in front of goal after good work by Scott Stewart down the right but Andy Ryan was off-balance and fired wide. Airdrieonians took the lead on 26 minutes when Stewart broke forward following an East Fife corner and two passes later Ryan had the ball in the back of the net. East Fife grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Kerr rose highest to head home Lamont’s corner for his 5th goal of the season.
The home side enjoyed the majority of the possession and attempts in front of goal for the first 20 minutes of the second half. After a series of corners a strong drive from Adam Brown was turned round the post by Mark Hurst before Ryan curled the ball narrowly wide following another breakaway move. East Fife began to grow into the game in the final quarter a took the lead on 74 minutes when Ross Brown to get on the end of a cross from Kevin Smith and steer his header past Rohan Ferguson into the bottom corner
Airdrieonians were pressing for an equaliser and Kerr was on hand to block a goal-bound effort from Jack Leitch on 82 minutes. The home side scored a deserved equaliser with a minute left of normal time with Leitch got on the end of a cut-back by substitute Jack McKay. The visitors almost left with all three points in injury time but Ferguson was able to turn Nicki Paterson’s free kick behind for a corner.
A run of 6 straight wins came to an end but a point means East Fife are now only 4 points behind 2nd placed Alloa Athletic with a game in hand.
After the match Manager Barry Smith spoke to East Fife TV:
“The position we were in we’re disappointed. When you’re 2-1 up going into the last few minutes of the game but in terms of the game a draw was probably a fair result. It shows what that dressing room is like they are disappointed but they shouldn’t be because we’re on a good run at the moment and we remain unbeaten, I think its 6 or 7 games. They shouldn’t be downbeat they should be looking positively towards next week’s game.”
East Fife head to the Excelsior Stadium aiming to extend their impressive winning streak but Barry Smith is expecting another tough game tomorrow. Speaking earlier today the Bayview boss looked ahead to the clash.
"Airdrie might have had a couple of disappointing results in recent weeks but that does not make them a bad team, as their league position shows. They are also a full-time side so we can expect a difficult game."
Smith also spoke of new signing Nicky Paterson.
"We are delighted to bring Nicky in, he will strengthen the midfield, and his experience will help what is still quite a young side, both on the park and in the dressing room."
The Manager was also keen to take a positive outlook following the departure of defender Scott Mercer, who joined Championship outfit Queen of the South yesterday.
"We are obviously disappointed to lose Scott but the club should be proud that we have given a young player the opportunity to improve his game and progress to full-time football."
Smith also reported that the injury situation remains unchanged from last week with Ryan Goodfellow, Kyle Wilkie and Tony Wallace all sidelined.
Tomorrow's game will be third meeting between the sides this season. A 1-1 draw at the Excelsior Stadium in September was followed by a 1-0 Airdrieonians victory at Bayview six weeks later.
