Stenhousemuir v East Fife at Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir on 28.01.12
Irn Bru Scottish Second Division Att 687
Stenhousemuir 1 [Rodgers 59] East Fife 0
Stenhousemuir is it fair to say have had a poor start to 2012 but they were hoping to at long last get back to winning ways against a decent East Fife team. They went into the game with Eric Paton and Stevie Murray back in the fold after injury. As usual however there was another injury crisis with the central defence missing both Ross McMillan and Martyn Corrigan. This meant a shuffling of the pack and Kevin McKinlay took up one berth despite having broken fingers and Iain Thomson the other spot dropping back from midfield. With McKinlay moving into the middle this meant a vacancy for left back and Alan Lawson was brought in to make his first start for the club. There was a new face on the bench with Gary Smith a forward on loan from Motherwell wearing the Warrior’s jersey for the first time.
As expected with the defensive changes it took a while for the home side to gel and East Fife’s Paul McQuade could have put the visitors ahead in the 10th minute when he fired over the bar from 12 yards out. East Fife were the more threatening during the early stages and Bobby Linn almost squeezed an effort in at the near post. The best chance however came in the 23th minute when David Muir tried to steer a cross into the net from only 6 yards out but good hands by Ally Brown made his save more comfortable than it actually was.
In the 26th minute a surging run by Willie Lyle after a superb sliding tackle ended with Michael Brown making a diving save to cut out a Stevie Murray cross with Stewart Kean ready to punce. As the half progressed Stenhousemuir had more of the play but they were unable to create any real chances and were probably the happier to go into the second half on level terms.
Stenhousemuir suffered a blow before the resumption when Eric Paton who had rejoined the fray after half time had to leave the pitch before kick- off and this meant a quick re-organisation that saw Sean Dickson come off the bench.
Dickson almost made an immediate impact linking up with Andy Rodgers but could not get the ball out from under his feet as he entered the danger area and the threat was cleared. Linn saw an effort saved by Brown in the 53th minute and the Fifers came even closer a minute later when a Neil Janczyk free kick was tipped onto the post and out by Ally Brown. From the resultant corner ex-Warrior John Ovenstone rose high to head an effort off the top of the bar and over.
Out of the blue Stenhousemuir took the lead just before the hour and once again it was a top quality strike by Andy Rodgers who volleyed a Willie Lyle cross into the net. Five minutes later Stewart Kean was to be denied by a one handed stop by Michael Brown as the home side looked to get a second. In the 67th minute Stenhousemuir were dealt a blow when Stevie Murray was injured and in fact had to receive treatment for the rest of the half. This saw Gary Smith come on for his debut and at the same time East Fife rung the changes to try and get back into it by making a triple substation. It almost had an instant impact when Craig Johnstone fired the ball into the net but the ‘goal’ was disallowed for offside. East Fife pushed forward for the equaliser and Stenhousemuir were pushed back but they held firm though Ally Brown had to make a fine save to thwart another ex-Warrior Scott Dalziel. In the 90th minute Gary Smith had the chance to be an instant hero when he was played through the middle and only had Michael Brown to beat but the East Fife keeper made a fine save to keep them in the game.
This led to a nervous end to the game with it seemingly never going to end until after what seemed an eternity referee Steve Conroy brought the game to its conclusion much to the relief and jubilation of the Stenhousemuir contingent who had witnessed a gritty performance by the home team to secure their first win of 2012.
Stenhousemuir – Brown, Lyle, Lawson, Thomson, McKinlay, McHale, Ferguson, Rodgers, Kean, Paton [Dickson h/t] and Murray [Smith 67]. Subs not used – Campbell, J.Hamilton and McKinlay
East Fife – Brown, Cook, Ovenstone, Campbell, White [b45], Muir, Linn, Janczyk, Hislop [Dalziel 67], McQuade [Sloan 67] and Smith [Johnstone 67]. Subs not used – Durie and Collier
Referee – Steve Conroy Assistants – George Drummond and Frank Connor
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