Pars taken all the way by stubborn East Fife

Championship side dominate but are kept at bay by welldrilled defence

EAST FIFE 0 DUNFERMLINE 0 (DUNFERMLINE 9-8 PENS)

Dunfermline were taken all the way by stubborn East Fife resistance at Bayview.

The Championship side had an overwhelming amount of pressure throughout the 90 minutes, but the welldrilled Methil men kept them at bay.

The game was forced into a penalty shoot-out to decide who would win the bonus point, with the Pars hardly known for their spot-kick prowess, having missed three in one game last season against Dundee United.

But the spot-kicks from both sides were sublime, reflected in the 9-8 scoreline.

East Fife’s Ben Gordon was the unlucky one to miss, watching on as his strike came back off the post.

“We practised penalties the other day but I sometimes think it’s unrealistic when you practise them,” said Pars boss Allan Johnston.

“But the boys stepped up and the standard of penalties from both sides was incredible, especially when you see some of the shooting during the game.

“The second half we totally dominated and a goal looked a matter of time.

“We just couldn’t find that bit of quality to get it.”

East Fife went into the game down to the bare bones with only four slots on the bench filled. One of them was taken by the club’s gaffer, and ex-Dunfermline midfielder, Darren Young.

The Pars had no such issues, and are brimming with confidence after putting six past Elgin City without reply on Saturday.

The visitors started better, with only a last-ditch tackle from Aaron Dunsmore preventing Joe Cardle from racing one on one with Thomas Cordery.

East Fife were doing their best to counter-attack when they could but quickly found their breaks snuffed out by the chasing Dunfermline pack.

The Pars stayed on the front foot and continued to create chance after chance.

Nicky Clark was the next to go close when he headed a Kallum Higginbotham corner a foot over the bar.

East Fife began to come more into the game but struggled to fashion any clear chances at Sean Murdoch’s goal.

It was Dunfermline who looked the far more likely to net first.

Cordery had been by far the busier of the two keepers but failed to reappear for the second half, replaced by Ryan Goodfellow.

Dunfermline started the second period where they left off.

The visitors had to be patient as they continued to try to break down a wellorganised resistance.

East Fife were defending with everything they had and restricting the Pars to shots from distance.

Scott Lochhead and Dean Shiels were introduced from the bench by Johnston and Lochhead immediately tested Goodfellow with a rasping strike the Fife keeper did well to get his body behind.

It had been one-way traffic but remarkably East Fife almost won it in the closing stages when Mark Docherty’s free-kick was caught by the wind and nearly deceived Murdoch.

With the last attack of the 90 minutes Goodfellow had to be down smartly to knock a Callum Smith drive around the post.

Methil boss Young was encouraged by his side’s performance.

“It was a bit backs to the wall but we expected that,” he said.

“We wanted to create a few more chances but overall we dug in well against a full-time team.

“Dunfermline have some good players and I couldn’t have asked any more from the boys. We were down to the bare bones and we’re having to get through this first wee bit until we get people back.”

Picture: Craig Brown. Dean Shiels makes his debut.