East Fife are back in action at Bayview for the second time in four days tomorrow when they face a Queen's Park side experiencing a similarly up and down season.
Speaking earlier today, Manager Gary Naysmith looked ahead to the clash.
"Although we were disappointed not to hold on for victory on Tuesday evening, there were plenty of positives for us to take from the game, and we should be looking to build on our good performance in tomorrow's match against Queen's Park. Mark Hurst returns from suspension and will come into contention for a starting berth, whilst Scott Robinson and Chris Duggan are still unavailable through injury. Jordan Austin is also doubtful with a chest infection."
The Spiders last visited Bayview as recently as March this year when both sides had to settle for a share of the spoils after a 1-1 draw.
Both sets of supporters are welcome to enjoy pre and post match refreshments in the Stadium bars.
Ladbrokes League 1, Bayview Stadium, Tuesday 15th November 2016
East Fife 2 (Smith 31’ Taggart og 74’)
Alloa Athletic 2 (Longworth 58’, Hynd 89’)
Man of the Match: Chris Kane
East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Slattery, Kane, Page, Kerr, Lamont (Naysmith 73’), Brown, Insall (Austin 87’), Smith, Wilkie, Wallace (Mercer 70’)
Subs Not Used: O’Hara
Booked: Wilkie
Alloa Athletic XI: Parry, Taggart, Waters, Graham, Marr, Holmes (Hynd 84’), Cawley, Robertson, Spence, Longworth (Kirkpatrick 73’), Flannigan
Subs Not Used: A Wilson, Hoggan, L Wilson, Scullion, Goodwin
Booked: None
Referee: Alan Newlands
Attendance: 412
East Fife welcome 3rd placed Alloa Athletic to Bayview on Tuesday night in a fixture rearranged due to the visitor’s progress in the Irn-Bru Cup. East Fife made four changes to the team that lost to Livingston 10 days ago with Ryan Goodfellow, Jonathan Page, Mark Lamont and Jamie Insall replacing Scott Mercer, Gary Naysmith, Kevin O’Hara and the suspended Mark Hurst.
The first real chance of the match arrived on 17 minutes when Wallace did well to lose his man on the left-hand side but a combination of on Parry and Graham were able to scramble his cut back clear with Insall waiting to pounce. Insall then had a glorious chance to give the home side the lead when he was sent through by Smith but was denied by the legs of Parry.
East Fife were piling on the pressure and took a deserved lead on 31 minutes. Lamont played in Smith down the left who out-muscled Marr on the touch line before racing in on goal to fire past Parry. East Fife had a penalty claimed waved away by referee Alan Newlands 3 minutes before the break when Smith looked to have been brought down in the box, replays however proved that there was no contact and the striker had instead lost his footing. Alloa’s best chance of the half arrived just before the whistle when Marr connected with a Flannigan free kick but Goodfellow was well placed to make the save.
The home fans thought East Fife had extended their lead shortly after the break when Kane rose to head home Lamont’s out-swinging corner however their joy was short lived as the linesman’s flag was raised to signal the ball had gone out of play. Alloa were growing into the game and levelled the match on 58 minutes when the East Fife defence failed to deal with a bouncing ball in the box and Longworth took advantage to score from 5-yards. A deflected Wilkie shot forced a fine save out of Parry before Cawley was unlucky not to put Alloa ahead on 72 minutes when he saw his shot bounce back off the post. Instead 2 minutes later it was East Fife who scored next. Insall took advantage of a deflection to race down the right and his cross from the by-line was turned into his own net by Taggart. East Fife were really holding on towards the end but the visitor’s grabbed on equaliser in the final minute when Hynd was on hand to head home Flannigan’s corner.
After the Match Gary Naysmith spoke to East Fife TV:
“I think the performance deserved the victory and to lose the goal that we lost so late in the game it’s like a double whammy. I’m disappointed, I’m not going to hide that, but it’s a game that we should have seen out, going ahead twice. But we have to look at the positives; we played against an Alloa team that a lot of people tipped to win the league. The last couple of game I don’t feel we really imposed ourselves but I don’t think anyone could say that tonight. I think, I know we were the batter team and Jim Goodwin agreed with us that we were the better team and that we should have won. Although it’s nice to hear it makes it doubly disappointing when we’ve not won. The lad played well and as I said last week in the first half against Livingston they’ve gave me the lot and we’ve came out today and the lad have giving me everything again and once we cut out the silly mistakes and get that win I’m sure our season will take off.”
At the Training Session followed by a Q and A session with the Manager and Directors on Saturday 12th November at 10am, throughout the day, there will be a wee sale in The Jeek fleming Suite upstairs as follows.
Tracksuit bottoms - ex players - £10
Tracksuit bottoms - new - £15
Black and Gold football tops (DOE Sports) - long sleeved - ex players and numbered - £20
Goalkeepers' tops (DOE Sports) - ex players - £20
Training Tops - ex players - £10
Sweatshirts - ex players - £10
Rainjackets - hardly used by the players - £15
T shirts - ex players - £5
There are other various items on display eg socks and shorts -the socks are new and there are some new new shorts, all £5.
Various items as above have the player's number but not all.
Come along and have a look - you may find something you want as a Xmas present or a souvenir.
Also you will have a chance to quiz Peter McQuade and Alex Rae who will be present.
East Fife welcome promotion challengers Alloa Athletic to Bayview Stadium this evening, hoping to get their league campaign back on track after two defeats on the bounce.
Player manager Gary Naysmith reported that Scott Robinson and Chris Duggan continue to be sidelined through injury and that striker Jordan Austin retains his selection in the squad. Returning from suspension will be influencial defender Jonathan Page, while Ryan Goodfellow will takes his place between the sticks after Mark Hurst's red card at Livingstion ten days ago.
The Wasps have come out on top in both previous meetings this season but it will be their first visit to Methil since April 2013 when goals from Bobby Barr and Paul Willis helped secure a 2-1 home victory.
Supporters of both sides are welcome to enjoy pre and post-match refreshments in the Stadium bar.
Ladbrokes league 1, Tony Macaroni Stadium, Saturday 5th November 2016
Livingston 3 (Buchanan 45’, 66’, Miller 49’) - East Fife 1 (Smith 53’)
Man of the Match: Kevin Smtih
Livingston XI: Kelly, Miller, Neill, Crighton, Halkett, Longridge, Cadden (Byrne 62’), Pittman, Buchanan (Carrick 84’), De Vita (Currie 80’), Mullen
Subs Not Used: Maley, Sinclair, Mullin, Watt
Booked: None
East Fife XI: Hurst, Mercer, Slattery, Kane, Kerr, Brown, Smith (McManus 76’), Wilkie, Wallace (Insall 83’), Naysmith, O’Hara (Goodfellow 65’)
Subs Not Used: Lamont, Austin
Booked: Kane, Smith
Dismissed: Hurst, McManus
Referee: Craig Napier
Attendance: 907
East Fife travelled to Livingston to face the league leaders but left empty handed and with two red cards following a 3-1 defeat. East Fife made two changes to the side that narrowly lost to Airdrieonians the previous week with Kevin O’Hara and Tony Wallace replacing Jamie Insall and the suspended Jonathan Page.
As in the reverse fixture at Bayview in November, it was East Fife who started the brightest with Tony Wallace unlucky to see his shot from the edge of the box deflected behind for a corner in the 9th minute. East Fife were causing problems from set pieces and were presented with a couple of good opportunities to get on the score sheet. First Kevin Smith hit the side netting after Kane headed Mercer’s corner back across goal before O’Hara should have done better at the back post following a Naysmith free kick.
Livingston had their first sight of goal on 25 minutes when Crighton broke free of his marker but couldn’t direct his header from Cadden’s corner. East Fife then had a great chance to take the lead when O’Hara collected the ball inside his own half and skipped away from the Livingston defence but his pass to Wallace came too late and his was unable to control with only the ‘keeper to beat. Livingston were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box from which Cadden fired wide before the hosts opened the scoring on the stroke of half time. A quick East Fife throw in was intercepted by Miller who broke forward down the right and picked out Buchanan to tap in from a couple of yards.
Livingston doubled their lead five minutes after the break when Miller fired home a free kick from 25-yards into the top corner. Kevin Smith pulled one back for East Fife on 53 minutes when he collected Brown’s flick on inside the area and lifted the ball over the defender before firing past Kelly from close range. East Fife were reduced to 10-men on 63 minutes when Mark Hurst was dismissed for a last-man challenge on Mullen inside the area. In a triple