Stenhousemuir v East Fife at Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir on 24.9.11

Irn Bru Scottish Second Division                                 Att 682

Stenhousemuir 2 [Kean 19, Rodgers 88] East Fife 1 [Wallace 55]

 

Stenhousemuir made one change to the team that drew with Albion Rovers with Colin Hamilton making his debut after signing on loan from Hearts though he spent his informative years at Ochilview.

The Warriors were the better team in the first half as East Fife struggled to get going after their heroic performance against Aberdeen in midweek, and their exertions obviously had an effect.

There was a scare for the Fifers in the 10^th minute when Andy Rodgers just failed to get on the end of a poor defensive header. Three minutes Mark Ridgers was called into action to save a Stevie Murray shot after a swift passing move. Ridgers next action though was to pick the ball out of the net inthe 19^th minute. The goalscorer was Stewart Kean was thrashed the ball over the keeper as he advanced off his line to try and shut the Warrior down after a long ball by Iain Thomson picked out the striker with the East Fife defence pushing up. It was all Stenhousemuir in the first half and Martyn Corrigan and Stewart Kean came close to doubling the lead. On the stroke of half time though East Fife almost equalised when Willie Lyle came close to slicing the ball into his own net following a goalmouth scramble.

After the resumption it was clear that the Fifers were going to be a greater threat than the first period and it took a timely interception by Ross McMillan to thwart Ryan Wallace with a minute of the restart. Nevertheless Ridgers was called into action once again to save a Brown Ferguson effort at the base of the post after 53 minutes. Two minutes later East Fife were level when Wallace finished off a free kick that was obviously worked out on the training ground.  The Warriors were struggling at this stage but they still were creating chances and could have taken the lead once again in the 75^th minute when Kean played Rodgers in but although he only had the keeper to beat Ridgers blocked with his legs and then the rebound was headed wide. David White then missed with a header that went narrowly over the bar at the other end. With seven minutes left Sean Dickson who looked to be revelling in playing further up the park after coming on as a sub saw Ridgers make a one handed save to keep the scores level and the keeper came to the rescue once again from the resulting corner when Rodgers stuck his leg out to divert the ball from only six yards out but somehow the keeper managed to keep the ball out.

If that was a left off for the Fifers it was nothing compared to the miss at the other end in the 87^th minute. Ally Brown was caught in possession and Scott Dalziel chipped him but his shot came off the bar. It fell to Ryan Wallace who looked as if he must score but instead of knocking the ball over the line he took too long as he tried to control it and Willie Lyle somehow managed to get back and clear. This was certainly a candidate for the miss of the season and a minute later Stenhousemuir took the lead with a candidate for goal of the season. Stevie Murray out on the right back healed the ball for Willie Lyle to run onto and he eluded a tackle from Robert Sloan to whip the ball into the danger area and although it was behind Andy Rodgers he managed to show superb technique to get on the end of it and hit a powerful bicycle kick into the net.

There was a scare for the Warriors just before the final whistle blew when Ally Brown dropped a cross but Martyn Corrigan was able to clear.

This means that Stenhousemuir maintain their home record this season but East Fife will feel that they should have had a share of the points and certainly they showed that their position at the bottom of the league would appear to be a false one.      

Stenhousemuir – Brown, Lyle, C.Hamilton, Corrigan, McMillan, Thomson [b74], Ferguson [Dickson 75], Rodgers, Kean, Paton and Murray [b77]. Subs not used – Quinn, McCafferty, Fraser and McCluskey

 

East Fife – Ridgers, Durie, Cook, Ovenstone, White, Muir, Linn [Johnstone 81], Smith [Sloan 74], Ogelby [b61][Dalziel 65], Wallace and Park. Subs not used – Hislop and Brown

 

Referee – John Beaton                 Assistants – Lawrence Kerrigan and Thomas Robertson