Title-chasers taking nothing for granted

East Fife midfielder Pat Slattery says his team-mates aren’t getting carried away despite edging closer to the League Two title with a narrow victory at Gayfield.

The 22 year-old said: “It was a hard game in the end and we are just happy to come out on top.

“The players we have are capable of breaking down most defences and we should have scored more, but we just couldn’t do it.

“We are now four points clear of Clyde and six ahead of Elgin, but we’re taking nothing for granted.

“We have a massive game against Clyde in a couple of weeks but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.

“We’ve been on a phenomenal run and are doing really well and I think it’s down to the hard work we put into our pre-season training which is paying off now.”

The 26th-minute goal which gave the Fifers three vital points was straight from the pages of a comic book.

Arbroath keeper Allan Fleming misjudged a speculative and seemingly innocuous lob into the box, allowing the ball to bounce high over his outstretched fingertips and into the path of Jason Kerr who had the simple task of knocking it home.

Fleming had moments earlier been a hero as he got down well to block a netbound Nathan Austin header and the keeper again came to Arbroath’s rescue in the second half when making good saves from Austin and Kyle Wilkie.

Wilkie should, however, have put the Fifers further ahead in the 64th minute but blasted high over the bar from close range after Andy Munro did well to prevent Austin from scoring.

Arbroath dominated possession for the final 20 minutes but failed to put visiting keeper Liam Kelly under any real pressure, a 20-yard shot from Darren Ramsay being their only real chance.

Gayfield boss Dick Campbell was far from impressed, saying: “Christmas came early for East Fife, but that’s why Arbroath are where they are, giving away goals like that.

“It’s a goal a primary school team might lose on a Sunday morning. In terms of goal scoring opportunities they had far more than us and deserved to win.”