Crawford ‘delighted’ as Newton’s header is enough to secure win

ALBION ROVERS 0

EAST FIFE 1

Liam Newton’s solitary second-half strike was enough to secure victory for East Fife as they condemned Albion Rovers to a third successive defeat.

The 20-year-old’s header after 67 minutes was all that separated the teams following a hardfought battle at the Reigart Stadium.

Fifers boss Stevie Crawford said: “I’m absolutely delighted for Liam Newton to score the winner, albeit he was playing in a slightly wider position today.

“I said to the guys in the dressing room that the game could’ve gone either way but we’ve come away with three very valuable points.

“The pleasing thing from it is that we’ve faced a lot of difficult spells in that game and have come away with a clean sheet.”

The home side started brightly with Kieran Dolan spurning two early chances, first skewing a shot off target and then seeing his goal-bound strike deflected for a corner.

From the ensuing kick, James McGowan’s acrobatic volley went narrowly over the bar.

Rovers continued their bright start with a handful of dangerous chances but were denied each time by Allan Fleming.

Sean Fagan went closest when his rasping drive from the edge of the box cannoned back off the post.

The Coatbridge side passed up another gilt-edged chance after 27 minutes as Fleming somehow denied Dolan from point-blank range.

Rovers’ lack of ruthlessness in front of goal has been the hallmark of their season so far and it came back to haunt them when the visitors took the lead.

Ryan Schiavone’s cross from the right found Newton, who managed to head beyond Jack Leighfield.

It proved the decisive moment and Crawford added: “You’ve got to give credit to both sets of players.

“I watched Albion Rovers’ opening two games of the season, against Stenhousemuir and Dumbarton, and they were very unlucky to come away with no points from both of those games, so we knew that we were in for a difficult match today.

“They started well and were on the front foot but after seeing out a sticky first 15 minutes, I think we grew into the game.

“Allan Fleming made some fantastic saves and then we created a few opportunities of our own in the first half.

“We tweaked a few things at half-time and then I thought we started the second half brightly and scored a really good goal.”

East Fife boss Stevie Crawford hailed his side’s effort.