The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Young praises Fifers as struggling Loons are swept aside
LEAGUE ONE: East Fife turn in best performance of season at Station Park to extend winning run to six games
FORFAR ATHLETIC 0 EAST FIFE 4
East Fife boss Darren Young praised his side’s impressive performance after they demolished a sorry Forfar Athletic at Station Park.
The win was the Fifers’ sixth on the bounce – while Forfar have almost gone as long without a victory – and that tremendous run delighted Young.
“It’s the best we’ve played so far,” he enthused.
“Brett (Long) made a couple of great saves which kept us ahead but from there we tweaked the formation and played really, really well.
“The defence has been the big difference from this year to last year, the togetherness, the fighting. It was, overall, an outstanding performance.
“It shows the strength of the squad. We left out (Jonny) Court and Anton (Dowds) and brought in Kev (Smith) and Rory (Currie) and they both came in and got a goal and both of them have been working hard to get on the park.
“It’s a luxury having these players. “We’ve got four good strikers who would probably get in most teams in the league and the advantage of being able to chop and change was there for all to see today.”
The visitors controlled the early stages and had the lead after only 10 minutes when Scott Agnew clipped a free-kick to the back post for Kevin Smith to stoop low to nod past Marc McCallum.
East Fife’s domination continued and they doubled their advantage in the 33rd minute.
The ball broke to Agnew on the edge of the box from a corner and he fired a scintillating half-volley into the top corner of the Forfar net.
East Fife again capitalised on lacklustre defending from Forfar five minutes from the break when Aaron Dunsmore slotted a pass through to Hearts loanee Rory Currie who beat the outrushing McCallum.
The Fifers started the second half in the same vein as the first and grabbed their fourth in the 57th minute.
Agnew’s strike from distance bobbled over the hands of McCallum and trundled into the back of the net.
Forfar were content to limit the damage for the remainder of the half but the defeat means the Loons have now not won in their last five outings.
A dejected Jim Weir commented: “We started OK and I thought it was harsh on the players when they got their second.
“But from then on it was men against boys.
“I know it’s easier to play when your three or four nil up but all over the park, physically and mentally, it was men against boys.”