Bayview men ‘gutted’ to exit cup in semi-final

IRN-BRU CUP: Boss has so much pride in his players after thrilling run

East Fife’s Irn-Bru Cup campaign saw them compete against both top quality opposition, and absolute farce, but boss Darren Young concedes his side was “gutted” to depart at the semi-final stage.

Young’s men came within just 90 minutes of reaching their first national cup final since 1953 but found Championship leaders Ross County a bridge too far.

The Staggies have been setting the pace in the country’s second tier and are odds on to return to the Premiership at the end of the campaign.

They may now savour an Irn-Bru Cup trophy win as well, but had to work to get their against the, again, very impressive Methil men.

Young’s side more then earned their place in Dingwall on Friday night.

It gave the club a national exposure they merited.

The cup run was tough, the Fifers paired early on with full-time clubs Partick Thistle and Queen of the South.

Young guided his men past both before then being drawn away from home against Dublin club Bohemians.

The tie was originally scheduled for November, but the end of the Irish club’s season meant that, logistically, it was a non-starter.

Instead the two sides had to agree to a February date to get the game played, after the other quarters had been settled and the semi-final draw made.

But that wasn’t the end of the farce, with a travelling band of 400 East Fife fans, players and club officials frozen out and watching on as the game was called off just minutes before kick-off.

About the only piece of sanity came in the hours afterwards when Bohs withdrew from the tournament, allowing East Fife a bye into the semis.

There they would meet County, but first half goals from Daniel Armstrong and Declan McManus, despite an Anton Dowds counter, proved enough to send the Championship side through.

The Fifers threw everything at County in the closing stages and had a couple of decent penalty claims snubbed.

Young admitted it was a frustrating way for things to end – but spoke of his pride in his players.

He said: “I’m frustrated because it’s so close but so far.

“It was a great performance and it says a lot to me about the players that they’re sitting in there disappointed that they’ve played a full-time, Championship team and have been beaten.

“They’re gutted. The performance was great but we lost a poor first goal. The second should have been a free-kick for us but we showed a great reaction.

“We were comfortable enough with our shape after changing it in the first half. We stuck at it and had a very strong penalty claim at the end.”

East Fife manager Darren Young.