East Fife 2 Arbroath 1 Scottish League One, Bayview Stadium Saturday 24th August 2013 Match Report by Liam Thomson East Fife recorded their first victory of the new season by beating Paul Sheerin’s Arbroath side in a tense match at Bayview. A decent home crowd came out to watch their team attempt to bounce back after losing their opening two league fixtures. The club made the sport sections of the national press this week with the stunning signing of former Scotland player Gary Naysmith and the veteran went straight into the starting line up replacing Scott McBride at left back. Youngster Ross Brown returned to the side with Paul Willis dropping to the bench. Arbroath were without three players as a broken foot kept Ricky Little out, whilst Alex Keddie and Connor Birse were also sidelined due to injuries. The home side could have been one up after only five minutes. Craig Johnstone fired in a corner kick from the right which went long and Gary Thom headed back into the area finding Jonathan Stewart. It was an extremely good opportunity for Stewart who could have picked his spot but unfortunately he could only send his close range header over the woodwork. The Fifers didn’t have long to wait though before they were ahead when Scott Durie headed in from a Johnstone corner in the 10th minute. Just after the half way mark East Fife doubled their lead. Cedric Tuta, who performed very well throughout the afternoon, played a through ball to the sprinting Craig Johnstone. The Fife skipper was brought down clear through on goal by Colin Hamilton and the referee had no hesitation in reaching for a red card from his pocket in addition to pointing to the penalty spot. Striker Liam Buchanan stepped up and powered his spot kick into the left corner of the goal with Arbroath goalkeeper Scott Morrison helpless. Two goals ahead and with an extra man East Fife looked in a very comfortable position, but shortly before half time Alan Cook gave the Red Lichties a lifeline when he struck a very good free kick from 25 yards out which went past Michael Andrews into the net. The home support felt that the free kick was of a dubious nature but there was no denying that it was a fine effort from the former Stirling Albion and Airdrie midfielder. The visitors had the first attempt at goal following the interval when Steven Milne was presented with a chance but his header was too weak to really trouble Andrews. In the 62nd minute Cedric Tuta knocked the ball on to Liam Buchanan who slipped past a couple of tackles before striking fiercely at goal. Morrison however managed to palm the East Fife striker’s effort away from danger. Despite having the man advantage East Fife couldn’t take hold of the match and to their credit Arbroath had The Fifers on the back foot for periods in the second half. They went closest in the 68th minute when Scott Durie came to the rescue as he cleared a goal bound effort off the line. A few minutes later though and Durie was dismissed after receiving his second yellow card of the afternoon meaning that both sides were now reduced to ten men each. Arbroath finished the match with nine men as near the end Alan Cook, who had been Arbroath’s best player, was stretchered off after the Gayfield side had made all their entitled substitutions for the afternoon. After picking up their first points of the season, excitement starts to build now as everyone connected with the club looks forward to next weekend’s mouth watering league fixture away to Rangers at Ibrox. East Fife: Andrews, Durie, Naysmith, Thom, Mbu, Johnstone (McBride 85), Brown, Moosari (Willis 70), Buchanan, Tuta (Clarke 63), Jonathan Stewart Subs Not Used: Barr, Paterson, Ryan Stewart. Arbroath: Morrison, Banjo, Travis, Hamilton, Lindsay, Scott (Chisholm 63), Darren Smith, Linn (Yao 71), Cook, Sheerin (Bayne 77), Milne. Subs Not Used: Sibanda, McWalter, Bullock. Attendance: 809 Referee: Barry Cook
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 20:45:17 +0000
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