Fifers fly out of blocks to see off Lichties

East Fife boss Derek Young was delighted with the resilience his side showed in securing three points after a pulsating match which yielded five goals but could quite easily have generated as many again.

The visitors swept into a 3-1 first half lead, helped in no small measure by some catastrophic defending by the Lichties, but then had to show great character to repel wave after wave of maroon attacks after the interval.

Young said: “It was a great battling performance. You know what it’s going to be like when you come here when the wind can make it a game of two halves, and that’s how it turned out.

“The boys stuck to their task and we are delighted to pick up the points as this is a hard place to come.

“We could have had a few more goals in the first half and maybe nicked a couple in the second half, but at the same time Arbroath could have had two or three themselves.”

The Fifers got off to a flying start when Lichties defender Thomas O’Brien thumped a Greig Hurst cross into the roof of his own net with less than two minutes played.

Arbroath responded strongly and equalised 14 minutes later, Steven Doris showing great agility to flick the ball over Ryan Goodfellow.

The visitors regained the lead midway through the first half, however, Nathan Flanagan beating David Hutton with a powerful drive from 25 yards.

Chris Duggan extended the Methil men’s advantage in the 38th minute when a shocking error by Hutton left the striker with a simple chance.

Arbroath piled on the pressure after the restart and a series of efforts were blocked on the line or hit the woodwork before Danny Denholm finally pulled one back in the 58th minute. The Lichties continued to press and dominate but couldn’t find a way past Goodfellow,

Lichties manager Dick Campbell said: “It was a comedy of errors. We can’t give any team three gifts like that. They could all have been prevented, so I’m angry with my own players and we’ll have to sort these things out on Monday night at training. But credit to East Fife, they surprised me.”