The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Fifers hit nine games unbeaten at home
LEAGUEONE: East Fife manager Barry Smith praises side’s tenacity after important win
EAST FIFE 3 BRECHIN CITY 2
East Fife boss Barry Smith praised the spirit of his side after they made it nine league games without defeat at Bayview.
The Fifers and Brechin City shared five goals and two red cards during a pulsating 90 minutes.
In the end it was the Fifers who got the crucial win which helped them to muscle into the promotion play-off zone.
Darren Dods’ side slipped to sixth, but remain just a couple of points out of the promotion places.
East Fife had raced into a two-goal lead only for the visitors to come storming back and level matters.
It was the home side, though, who grabbed the game’s crucial fifth goal which pleased the Methil manager.
Smith said: “We were made to work hard for it because Brechin put us under a lot of pressure.
“From our point of view at 2-0 we could have made the game a lot easier. “Credit to Brechin for fighting back. “But it showed the spirit in the team again after they pegged us back from 2-0. To win the game 3-2 showed the spirit of the team again.”
The game got off to a quiet start until it suddenly burst into life as the half hour mark approached.
Dougie Hill brought down Chris Duggan on the edge of the box and from the free-kick Kevin Smith sent an unstoppable effort beyond Graeme Smith.
The Fifers stayed on the front foot and went two goals ahead when Chris Kane met a Nicki Paterson free-kick and prodded his effort home.
Smith’s men looked to be cruising, but were pegged back when Andy Jackson weaved his way past Pat Slattery and beat Ryan Goodfellow.
It was the third goal in the space of six minutes and put a spring in the step of the visitors.
They restored parity when East Fife made a hash of a clearance and the ball broke kindly for Willie Dyer who lashed his strike into the back of the net.
To their credit East Fife refused to let their heads go down and worked hard to get themselves in front again.
Smith introduced Jamie Insall from the bench and the striker had an almost immediate impact.
Gareth Rodger clipped the on-loan Hibs man inside the box and ref David Munro was perfectly placed to award the spot-kick.
Chris Duggan stepped up to send Smith the wrong way and seal the points.
The game ended on a low note as firstly Brechin’s Alan Trouten and then East Fife’s Paterson both saw straight reds for reckless challenges.
Brechin boss Dods said: “We took about 30 minutes to get going and it wasn’t until we went 2-0 down that we started pushing and getting tighter to them. “We gave them too much space. “At 2-0 down we got a reaction and got ourselves back into it.
“It was 50-50 with how it was going to go and then we shoot ourselves in the foot by taking a touch in our own sixyard box, losing the ball and giving away a penalty.
“After that the heads went down.”