Fifers’ boss hails side for defying odds to gain draw

EAST FIFE: Young’s side come back against Sons to ensure they stay top

2019-09-23 -

EAST FIFE 2 DUMBARTON 2

Darren Young was delighted with the never say die spirit of his Fifers after they crawled off the canvas to rescue a 2-2 draw.

The Methil men were trailing by two goals in the second half but showed their fighting spirit to come roaring back.

It maintained their unbeaten start to the new league season and Young couldn’t be happier.

He said: “We know the guys have the character to come back into the game.

“We got a point but felt we could have won the game.

“Having said that, we were going for it and they were going for it so maybe over the piece a draw was fair.

“It was a great game for the neutral with everything in it.

“The attitude of the players was great and all the subs who came on had an impact.

“It was great all round because there are not many teams who will go 2-0 down to Dumbarton and come back.

“If someone had said to us at the start of the season that after seven games you’d have four wins and three draws we’d have bitten their hand off.

The Methil men were by far the better in the opening stages but struggled to make the breakthrough.

They looked dangerous going forward and had two strong penalty appeals snubbed within the space of a few minutes.

Both Aaron Dunsmore and Stewart Murdoch went down under Dumbarton pressure but ref Lloyd Wilson turned away both.

The pressure was one way, but, against the run of play, the visitors grabbed the lead.

Jordan Hart got down well to nudge Morgyn Neill’s header around the post.

But from the subsequent corner Ryan McGeever got to the ball first and powered his header into the Fife net.

It was cruel on East Fife, but things got worse a few minutes into the second half when Chris Higgins was penalised for a foul on Ruaridh Lanagan.

Isaac Layne stepped up and converted the spot-kick.

The Methil men were determined not to give up their undefeated record without a fight and within a few minutes pulled one back.

Scott Agnew’s free-kick wasn’t dealt with by the visiting defence and Stewart Murdoch popped up at the back post to bundle the ball home.

It gave the home side a visible boost and they went off in search of a deserved equaliser.

The Sons were being bombarded and struggled to contain their hosts.

Young introduced new signing Steven Boyd from the bench and he made an almost immediate impact, his run into the box crudely halted by Neill.

This time Wilson did point to the spot and up stepped Scott Agnew to drag the hosts level.

Both sides had chances to win the game late on, the best falling to Dumbarton’s Matthew Shiels.

The sub scampered clear on Hart’s goal but the Methil keeper pulled off an excellent save to keep the scores level.