Bayview men out to hurt Jags again

East Fife secured an Irn-Bru Cup semifinal berth this week in unusual circumstances – and they are now out to secure a Scottish Cup quarter-final place by upsetting Partick Thistle for a second time this season.

The Bayview team spent last weekend in Dublin where they were due to face Bohemians only for their match to be called off just minutes before it was due to start as Dalymount Park was frozen.

The Irish side subsequently withdrew to send the Fifers through and now manager Darren Young is plotting another cup success through a more traditional method.

Young said: “We knocked Thistle out of the Irn-Bru Cup earlier this season, but a lot has changed for them since then. They have a new manager, new players and a new way of playing.

“They have been undefeated since 2019 came in so repeating our 2-1 win will be far from easy.

“Gary Caldwell has put his stamp on their team, and he is seeing an upturn in results. They are creating chances now, particularly from set-pieces, and this tie is probably more difficult than it would have been at any other time this season.”

Despite Thistle’s improvement, Young’s side will be going into the tie with confidence. He explained: “We have played full-time sides eight times this season and only lost once to Falkirk.

“We have beaten Thistle, Queen of the South, Morton and Raith Rovers, twice, as well as drawing with them and St Johnstone.

“It will be difficult to win again but we can go into the game with no inferiority complex. We are on a decent run of our own and showed a lot of spirit to come from two goals down twice at Stranraer to win in our last game.

“We then headed to Dublin where despite the disappointment of the game being called off, we had a night of team bonding and moved into the last four.

“We can move into the last eight of this cup if we put in an error-free performance.”

New loan recruit from Motherwell, Broque Watson, is included for the first time with Young’s only doubt being Kevin Smith who has been unwell.

Thistle assistant manager Brian Kerr said: “We always said it would take time and asked to be judged on our squad.

“Eight players came in during January and 11 went out. What is happening is more positive as we saw at Inverness Caledonian Thistle last weekend.

“We finished the game as 2-1 winners and finished it well.

“A few weeks ago at 2-1 ahead it would have been a backs to the wall last 10 minutes. However, it was more comfortable.”

Kerr added: “That is a sign of the progress being made but we are not going to get ahead of ourselves as winning at East Fife will be a challenge.

“They beat Thistle earlier in the season in the Irn-Bru Cup and have seen off Queen of the South and Morton in cup ties as well.

“Winning through to a quarter-final would be another sign of progress as well as being important to the club financially.

“It would also increase the feelgood factor and that is not a bad thing.”

East Fife’s Scott Agnew celebrates his goal against Partick in this season’s Irn-Bru Cup victory.