The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Fifers full of confidence ahead of derby clash
LEAGUE 1: Methil men heading for Stark’s Park in good mood after seeing off Loons
EAST FIFE 1 FORFAR 0
Darren Young says his Methil men will head into this weekend’s Fife derby with confidence oozing out of them.
Young guided his side past a tough Forfar test on Saturday, Steven Boyd’s early opener the difference between the two sides.
The win saw East Fife join Raith at the top of League 1 on 20 points after 10 games.
“We’re 10 games unbeaten now and joint with Raith so that’s brilliant,” said the Fife gaffer.
“That sets us up nicely for Saturday. “We’ll go there full of confidence from the way we’ve been playing and how we played against them earlier in the season.
“We’ve had a really good support with us there last season and were able to reward them so we’re delighted with that.
“We’ll look forward to the game now and prepare for it.”
Forfar possibly have not started the season as well as some expected they would and arrived at Bayview with just three wins from their first quarter.
But the Fifers still expected a difficult day’s work against Jim Weir’s men and that’s just how it transpired.
The hosts were made to battle for their win with the Loons unlucky not to take at least a point back to Station Park with them for their second half performance.
East Fife raced into an early lead when some excellent work from Ryan Wallace saw him tee up Boyd six yards out and the striker made no mistake.
Both sides had chances to grab the game’s second goal, Jordan Kirkpatrick seeing his shot held by Jordan Hart while Wallace was out of luck at the other end.
East Fife ended the first half on top but the visitors were much improved after the break, but a combination of poor finishing and excellent defending denied them an equaliser.
With just over 20 minutes left to play Kirkpatrick should have pulled Forfar level when he beat the offside trap to meet a Ross Forbes delivery.
Kirkpatrick had all the time in the world to pick his spot but ended up firing straight at Hart who was out well to block.
East Fife needed a second goal to settle the nerves and almost got it when Dunsmore got his shot away inside the box, but his drive crept the wrong side of the post.
They weren’t made to pay for it, though, and held on for the win.
Visiting boss Jim Weir said: “I’m disappointed not to come away with anything.
“Having said that, our first half performance could have put it beyond us anyway.”