Match Report

MATCH REPORT
East Fife v Stenhousemuir at the Locality Hub Bayview Stadium, Methil on 29.09.18
SPFL Ladbrokes League One Att 545
East Fife 2 [Watson 37, Currie 90] Stenhousemuir 0

East Fife – Long, Dunsmore, [b30][Docherty 80], Kane, Watson, Slattery, Court [Currie 83], Agnew, Watt, Dowds [Smith 75], Davidson and Meggatt. Subs not used – McDowall, Dunlop, McBride and Bell.

Stenhousemuir – Smith, Donaldson, Neill, Tena [b65][Vaughan 89], Ferry, Paton, McGuigan, Duthie, Cook, Ross [McMenamin h/t][b54] and Dickson [O’Hara 73]. Subs not used – Reid, McBrearty, Halleran and McMinn.

Referee – Gavin Ross Assistants – Paul O’Neill and Jonathan Gall.

After the promising performance against Arbroath albeit a defeat there would have been some optimism going into this game against East Fife. The Fifers however have been doing well of late and would have fancied their chances as well.

At a blustery Bayview East Fife certainly gained the momentum in the early stages as they utilised the blustery wind to their advantage and for the first ten minutes they were camped in Stenhousemuir’s half of the field. Graeme Smith kept the scores level though with a save from a Anton Dowds shot that took a slight deflection off Mark Ferry in the 6th minute and this was followed within a minute by another stop by Smith after Aaron Dunsmore had skipped past Alan Cook.

Cook was involved in the first attack at the other end but his cross was easily gathered by Brett Long. The Warriors began to settle down and came close to opening the scoring in the 24th minute when Long saved a Paton shot at the base of the post and the keeper did well to gather the ball as Ruaridh Donaldson slid in to try and put the ball into the net.

In the 37th minute however it was East Fife that took the lead. They had caused a few problems at corner kicks throughout the game and they were eventually rewarded when Craig Watson bulleted a Scott Agnew corner into the net as he took advantage of lax marking.

This gave the home side the impetus again and for the rest of the first half they were once more in control but the closest they came was through a Jonny Court turn and shot that Smith was able to save.

The second half saw the Warriors make a change at half time with Colin McMenamin replacing Seb Ross in an attempt to be more attacking. They certainly had a better start without too much penetration and it was Scott Agnew that came closest in the opening exchanges with a shot just wide. The ease with how he had created space should have been a warning for Stenhousemuir and the Dowds was found on the overlap but his shot struck the post. The ball was eventually cleared and McMenamin looked to have been fouled by a defender who could have been sent off if the referee had awarded the free-kick. Mark McGuigan tried to follow up but the ball appeared to stick under his feet and Long was alert to gather bravely.

As the game went into the final stages the visitors were relying on half chances though O’Hara did come close with an attempt but he had to stretch to get the connection. In the 89th minute East Fife sub Kevin Smith was unlucky when a strike was partially blocked for a corner. Although the Fifers were unlucky on this occasion they were to have the rub of the green in stoppage time when they were awarded a penalty. Donaldson had scrambled the ball clear but was adjudged to have fouled Agnew. Agnew wanted to take the penalty but Mark Docherty won that battle and stepped up to take the spot kick. Graeme Smith did well to save it but East Fife substitute Rory Currie was quickest to react to tuck the ball into the net with literally the last kick of the ball as the final blew before the game could be resumed.