Fifers frustrated in bid to reclaim third

East Fife were unable to boost their promotion play-off chances as they slipped to a narrow defeat last night at Cliftonhill.

The Fifers were looking for a win to leapfrog Brechin City back into third place.

Boss Barry Smith was without Kevin Smith and Jonathan Page so called in Jesse Curran and Alex Cooper and the latter, making his first start for East Fife, impressed on the left flank.

East Fife started on the front foot and striker Chris Duggan had a half chance when played in by Scott Robinson but his drive was nudged round the post by Ross Stewart.

The visitors again went close when a marauding run forward by Robinson was crudely brought to a halt by the Rovers defence.

Cooper took the free-kick but Stewart got down well to save.

Stewart was again called into action a few moments after the restart when he had to beat away a Cooper drive.

The Fifers were made to pay for their missed chances when Rovers took the lead 10 minutes into the second half.

Jason Kerr was robbed in possession on the edge of his own box and Ryan Wallace took full advantage by lashing the ball into the corner of the net.

Smith turned to his bench in an attempt to rescue something for the Fifers, introducing strikers Jamie Insall and then Jordan Austin from the bench.

Insall had a decent claim for a penalty turned down after he was clattered inside the box by Mikey Dunlop and the on-loan Hibs striker was frustrated again when he raced in on goal with 10 minutes to go and found the net.

But the cheers of the Fife support were short-lived as Insall’s effort was chalked off for offside.

Rovers sat back and allowed the Fifers to come on to them. They did just that, but lacked the guile to break down what was a stubborn Rovers resistance.

In the dying moments they were handed a glorious chance to pull level when Insall was clipped inside the box by Kyle Turnbull.

Referee Kevin Graham pointed to the spot but Robinson saw his penalty saved by Stewart.

Boss Smith said: “I’ve told the boys not to be despondent because they’ve done excellent this season.

“We don’t want the season to peter out so we’ll concentrate on the Queen’s Park game.

“We asked for a reaction from Saturday because we know we didn’t play as well as we should.

“They certainly gave me a reaction but a mistake has cost us.

“It came from a young boy and for young boys it’s about learning from their mistakes.”

Attendance: 419 Albion R: Stewart, McCann (Turnbull 64), Reid, Fisher (Lightbody 88), R Dunlop, M Dunlop, Ferry, McBride, Wallace (Gilmour 82), Willis, Stewart. Subs not used: Turnbull, Potts, Ferguson, McManus.

East Fife: Hurst, Cooper (Austin 77), Slattery, Kane, Kerr, Brown, Duggan (Insall 63), Curran, Robinson, Penrice, Paterson. Subs not used: Gordon, Mutch, Reilly.

Referee: Kevin Graham.