Stirling Albion 1 East Fife 2 League One Playoff Final First Leg, Forthbank Stadium Wednesday 14th May 2014 Match Report by Liam Thomson East Fife will take a 2-1 advantage into the second leg of their League One play-off final against Stirling Albion. The Fifers won at Forthbank Stadium on Wednesday night to move a step closer to securing their place in the third tier of Scottish football for another season. Following last Saturday’s grueling encounter against Clyde, East Fife manager Gary Naysmith was forced into making a number of changes to the starting line-up that was successful in overcoming the Bully Wee. Penalty shoot-out hero Dylan Rooney was named goalkeeper as Greg Paterson recovers from a head knock. Stephen Hughes was sidelined so in came Johnny Stewart to the midfield. Joe Mbu picked up an injury in the warm up so Gary Thom was drafted in to play against his former club. In the only other alteration, Pat Carke was given a starting berth with Nathan Austin handed a place on the bench. It was clear from the off that the Fifers’ plan was to try and frustrate Greg McDonald’s side. Stirling have developed a reputation for being a team that certainly does not struggle to put the ball in the back of the net, and the Fifers, wary of that danger, began the match with a solid formation. Kevin Smith was selected as the target man up front and he put in a great shift over the course of the match. It was Smith who had the first real opportunity of the game which he carved out for himself. After working some room in the Stirling area he fired at goal from a narrow angle but Binos keeper David Crawford was equal to his effort. In the 39th minute the Forthbank side should have gone in front when somehow the normally lethal Jordan White scooped the ball over the bar from only a couple of yards out. Stirling didn’t have long to wait though before they took the lead when three minutes before the interval Ross Forsyth headed in from a Darren Smith corner. East Fife came out in the second half with a real look of determination about them. Pat Clarke had a header saved before Lewis Barr nearly connected with a whipped ball in from the right from Marc McKenzie. In the 66th minute there was a great chance for the visitors to restore parity. Kevin Smith produced some fine work on the left before firing in a cross deep into the area which reached Pat Clarke but unfortunately the striker couldn’t finish and he scuffed his attempt over the woodwork. A couple of minutes later and the Fifers were denied what looked like a stone wall penalty when Graham Weir appeared to push Clarke in the box but referee Craig Charleston was having none of it. East Fife deservedly drew level after seventy minutes on the clock when Scott McBride headed home Craig Johnstone’s corner. With only a minute left substitute Nathan Austin scored with a wonderful looping header which sent the vocal travelling support wild. Almost instantly Stirling gave notification that the tie is still far from over when a Sandy Cunningham effort rattled the post. Stirling Albion: Crawford, Hamilton (McGeachie 81), Forsyth, McClune, Bishop, Smith, Johnston, Comrie (Ferry 79), White, Weir, Weatherston (Cunningham 75) Subs not used: Ashe, Fulton, Reidford, O’Byrne East Fife: Rooney, Cowan, Johnstone, Campbell, Thom, J Stewart, McKenzie (Austin 65), Barr, Clarke, Smith (Buchanan 76), Brown (McBride 47) Subs not used: Shaw, O’Neill, R Stewart, Inkango Referee: Craig Charleston Attendance: 1,501
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 07:58:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015