Match Report

MATCH REPORT
East Fife v Stenhousemuir at Locality Hub Bayview, Methil on 12.3.19
SPFL Ladbrokes League One Att 323
East Fife 1 [Meggatt 90+2] Stenhousemuir 1 [McGuigan 50]

East Fife – Long, Dunsmore, Docherty [B.Watson 77], Dunlop, Court, Smith [Dowds 57], Agnew, Higgins, Watt, Meggatt [b77] and Linton [Slattery 72]. Subs not used – Terry, Kane, C.Watson and Bell

Stenhousemuir – Smith [b77], Reid, Marsh [b62], Ferry, Gibbons, McGuigan, Duthie [Donaldson 79], Cook, Halleran [Dickson h/t], Munro [b63], and Hurst [Watters 81]. Subs not used – McMinn and McBrearty

Referee – David Lowe Assistants – Ross Haswell and Filippo Mazzoni

The Warriors went into this game buoyed by the victory at Gayfield. However they were forced into a couple of changes with centre-halves Morgyn Neill and Connor McBrearty unable to play though the latter took a place on the bench in case of emergencies.

Gayfield had been a windy location for playing football but it paled in significance to Bayview which was caught by the force of storm Gareth as the game progressed. The wind though was worse in the west and central areas and if Methil had been in either of these locations it is likely that the game would have been postponed or abandoned.

The Warriors showed a strong pressing game that gave their counterparts little opportunity to play any creative football in the opening stages. Andy Munro came close to opening the scoring in the 5th minute when his effort from an Alan Cook corner was cleared off the line. Cook then had a shot deflected after a swift counter attack started in his own half of the field and he came closer in the 15th minute when Brett Long was called into action to save. East Fife’s main threat in the first period came from Scott Linton and he created chances For his compatriots that forced Graeme Smith into a couple of saves with te best coming from a diving header by Kevin Smith.

Most of the action was at the other end though and with a bit more luck or accuracy the Warriors could have been comfortably ahead at the half time interval.

Straight after the resumption Mark McGuigan had a good opportunity to rectify the situation after a Long slip but the keeper was able to recover to save the effort from the striker. In the 50th minute though Long was beaten. The creator was Greg Hurst who won the ball on the right flank before injecting a burst of speed to get him to the bye-line before picking out McGuigan at the back post to slide home.

East Fife showed that they were not out of the game though four minutes later when an Aaron Dunsmore cross just needed the slightest of touches to steer it goalwards but luckily for Stenhousemuir that touch was not forthcoming.

In the 75th minute the game boiled over following an atrocious tackle by Darryl Meggatt on Greg Hurst. The East Fife player received a caution when a dismissal wound have been appropriate and Graeme Smith was booked for voicing that opinion to the referee.

In the latter stages with the conditions getting worse the home side pushed forwards for the equaliser and it came in added time when Meggatt headed home a corner at the back stick and thus the Warriors paid for a momentarily lapse in concentration.

It was a sore one to take as it is debatable whether it should have even been a corner kick in the first place. They say things even out over the season but that is a fallacy and it could be a vital two points dropped by the end of the campaign.