East Fife v Stenhousemuir FC

East Fife v Stenhousemuir at Bayview Park, Methil on 1.10.16
Ladbrokes League One  Att 563
East Fife 0 Stenhousemuir 1 [McMenamin 58 pen]

After two home draws where the Warriors showed plenty of spirit to claw back two goal deficits it was always going to be interesting to see how they would react on the road. Their opponents were East Fife who had been victorious the previous week with a comfortable win against Livingston and they were hoping to carry that form forward into this game.

Brown Ferguson made one change with Stephen Stirling missing through illness and Kieran Millar came into the starting eleven. Keeping his place in the heart of the defence was David Marsh who had been a trialist the previous two games but had since signed.

The Fifers started the game strongly and Colin McCabe did well to stop them scoring after only two minutes when made a one handed save from a header by Chris Kane. A minute later the keeper did well to scramble a short pass back clear. The home side were clearly on top in the opening stages and they came close once again in the 9th minute when the ever dangerous Kevin Smith beat Jamie McCormack and cut in but his shot was diverted by Marsh for a corner kick. It took the Warriors a while to get going but they eventually carved out a chance in the 15th minute when Colin McMenamin chested the ball down to Willis Furtado and his cross was played back into the middle by Oliver Shaw to Alan Cook but he shot over. Shaw came closer in the 25th minute but Mark Hurst saved his strike with ease. Shortly after this a series of corners at the other end saw Pat Slattery head over from close range. They came even closer when Smith headed over from six yards but the Warriors held firm. Furtado troubled the home defence with a powerful run but his shot went astray as the game started to become more open. 

The second half started brightly for Stenhousemuir who took the early initiative without creating too many clear chances. It was a surprise though when they were gifted a penalty after East Fife player-manager Gary Naysmith handled in the box when under no pressure and although the referee missed the incident it was brought to his attention by the assistant referee. Colin McMenamin stepped up to convert the spot kick. Vinnie Berry then tested Hurst with a powerful rising drive on the hour mark. In the 63rd minute Mark Lamont cut inside from the right flank and his curling effort was tipped round the post by McCabe who had to be at the top of his game to make the save. Shaw created an opening for himself in the 67th minute through clever footwork but his shot lacked power. In the 71st minute Smith was denied once again by McCabe who saved twice at point blank range. Although Stenhousemuir were pushed back more as the game progressed they were still creating chances and Vinnie Berry fired just over after a quick one-two opened the home defence up.

The best chance of the closing stages though fell to the home side and Jamie Insall came close with a run and shot that took the faintest of touches to be diverted wide and from the corner that followed Jonathan Page headed over from eight yards.

In the end the Warriors held on for victory the first in the league this season and it was a fighting performance throughout the team. In particular Colin McCabe will be delighted to get his first senior shut out and hopefully he can use this as a stepping stone in his development.

 East Fife – Hurst, Mercer, Slattery [Wallace 78], Kane, Page, Lamont [McManus 74], Brown [O,Hara 59], Insall, Smith, Wilkie and Naysmith [b58]. Subs not used – Goodfellow, Kerr and Robinson

Stenhousemuir – McCabe, McCormack, Meechan, Marsh [b46], Kerr, Berry, Furtado [McCroary 90], Millar, McMenamin [Gilhaney 80],  Shaw[Roy 89] and Cook.  Subs not used –Robertson,  Summers, Hamilton and  Smith.

Referee – Steven Reid Assistants – Ivan Stankovic and Ross Hardie