The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Young ‘speechless’ at last-gasp derby win
Two late goals clinch victory over rivals from down the road
Darren Young admitted his East Fife side had left him lost for words after their injury time victory over rivals Raith Rovers.
Raith looked to be closing out a 1-0 win until a dramatic end to the game saw the Bayview side equalise, get their noses in front and then have their keeper sent off.
It was East Fife’s first victory over Raith since 1988.
Young said: “I’m speechless to be honest. It was some performance.
“We were disappointed with the goal we lost in the first half.
“We gave the ball away too easily and they broke on us.
“There was a couple of chances for us to get back into it and they had a couple as well.
“But in the second half we were the better team and deserved it in the end.
“We’ve played well against Raith and haven’t really got our rewards but it all came together for us.
“Overall, we passed the ball brilliantly, got up on top of them and won the second balls.
“It was a round.”
Raith had the better of the opening exchanges and took a deserved lead after 11 minutes when Liam Buchanan burst through a gap in the East Fife defence and lashed his strike beyond Brett Long.
Daniel Armstrong passed up a chance to put the game virtually beyond the home side when he was afforded a free header just a couple of yards out.
However, the new Raith signing somehow scooped his header over Long’s bar.
East Fife had not posed too much of a threat on the Raith goal in the first half, in part due to the excellent performance of Iain Davidson.
However, the defender picked up an injury towards the end of the half and had to be replaced at the break.
He was a big miss in the second 45 and it was the home side who utterly dominated.
Raith keeper Robbie Thomson pulled off a terrific double save from Ross Davidson and Mark Docherty before denying Aaron Dunsmore a couple of minutes later.
East Fife were well on top and got a deserved equaliser when Scott Agnew’s corner was headed into the path of Kevin Smith by Craig Watson.
Former Raith striker Smith made no mistake and hauled the home side level.
The three points were there for the great performance all taking for either side and both came close as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes.
However, just when it looked as if the game would end in a draw, East Fife had one final chance.
Dunsmore worked room for himself on the edge of the box and, with the Raith defence backing off, punished them by lashing his strike past Thomson.
The home celebrations were wild, none more so than those of keeper Long.
However, his over-exuberance in front of the travelling support was not appreciate by ref David Munro, who showed him a straight red card.
East Fife were able to bring on substitute goalie Craig Mcdowall from the bench and close out the victory.
Visiting boss John Mcglynn was disappointed his side had not managed to shake off the home side and build on their lead. He said: “In the first half I thought we were very good and went 1-0 up. We had other really good chances.
“Nathan Flanagan does really well and drills a ball across the face of goal and just needed a touch.
“Liam Buchanan has a free header and Dan Armstrong has a great chance with a header as well.
“We ended up ruing the chances we missed in the first half in the second half.
“Iain Davidson’s injury just before half-time didn’t help us but we still had 11 players on the pitch.
“But like what happened against Forfar as well when we were in front, we lose control of the game.”