Score so far 1-1

Blackadder sent off.

Baikie sent 2 the stand aswell

Sounds heated, a win was needed but a draw isn't the end of the world. The transfer window can't come quick enough though it seems, we are desperately in need of a few wins.

I was there but couldn't really work out what was happening at the end and why hunners o polis appeared (well hunners by Arbroath standards).

Anyone in the stand able to say what happened?

Just heard there was a scuffle in the tunnel with some players from both sides.

Who did he assault?

EF Asst Manager.

Did Blackadders tackle merit a red?From the terracing i didnt think so.Was disapointed in the way we fell away after scoring.Why do we always sit back after scoring?It just doesnt make sense to me.

On P&B arbraoth fans are tryin to say weve got a team full of thugs and blackadder went for the boys knee.Didnt look like it from the terracing.

How many of them players will be here in January? because in my opinion i think we need a digging centre midfielder to help courts out,2 wingers and another striker and even a goalkeeper.

950 at the game according to BBC!

Have really got to question Baikies tactics once again.We were playing decent and deserved to go in front.From then on it was back to the old negative stuff with the ball being punted up the park.
We are at the top,due to other teams beating each other,and on current form we don`t have a chance of winning the league.
Hopefully some players will arrive in January,but Baikie has to be much more positive in his approach to the game.
Also think Blackadders suspension might not be a bad thing,as he has been pretty dismal recently.

Ryan Blackadder kicked all over the park all afternoon. Ryan Blackadder goes in heavily himself, gets sent off.
Arbroath manager goes mental because he thought they should have had a penalty. Linesman tells referee, referee just speaks to Arbroath manager.
East Fife manager disagrees with the sending off. Linesman tells referee. East Fife manager sent to stand.
Both sides fairly treated? Absolutely not!! Referee is a smokie muncher, methinks!

With about 15 mins to go, Arbroath's players started leaning on the ref, and he folded up like a cheap deckchair. Once he'd lost control, he panicked completely, resulting in Blackadder's sending-off.

The scenes at the end were like something from The Sweeney. How many polis do they have if there's a murder in Arbroath?

there was mair haddies off the park, than on it.thats why you lot got [BATTERD]

From the BBC website...

"Leaders East Fife were held to a draw n a feisty match marred by off-field clashes after Ryan Blackadder was sent off in injury time against Arbroath.
Paul Ritchie finished a cross for East Fife, while Paul Watson fired a reply.

But the match descended into chaos after a late tackle on Steven Rennie by Blackadder, who was red-carded and boss Dave Baikie given his marching orders.

Further trouble ensued in the tunnel after the final whistle and the police were required to restore order."

Just noticed the ref was called 'A. Law'. '...unto himself' presumably.

YEA THATS WHY I HAD TURN UP WITH MY SMOKIES.

McGlashan got a talking to by the ref for swearing/ shouted at the linesmann after we didn't get given a stonewall penalty.

Baikie ran onto the bus and started pushing people after your thug Blackadder went for Petal.

Big John deserved a talking to, Baikie deserved to be sent to the stand, and a touchline ban. No?

Thought we deserved the win, EF were hanging on in the end. Agree with the person above slagging off Baikie's tactics. Long ball punts, and a VERY negative last 30mins or so.

A couple of comments.

I understood that swearing or 'foul and abusive language' is a sending off offence, particularly when aimed at a match official.

It wasn't a penalty.

I dunno if it was swearing though, no-one does.

I do however know that Baikie was jumping about the pitch pushing people about.

I think we all agree thats a sending off offence!!

It wasn't a penalty? How so?

Wasn't a penalty. We had a player booked for diving in 1sr half, same should have happened to Arbroath player. Also Arbroath players running length of park to pressure referee. Pretty poor performance from both teams, thought No9 for Smokies was best player on the pitch but disgusted at attitude of your backroom staff, perhaps reflected in one being charged

I see, I thought you meant it was swearing.

"It wasn't a penalty? How so?" ... Clean contact on the ball, no real complaints from the Arbroath players in the locale (the ones doing most of the complaining ran from about 50 yards away) and most importantly ... I'm biased!

I think theres a difference between swearing angrily, and assaulting the linesman!

I dont think we pressured the ref at all, we generally stay well back from the ref and let him do his job. However, we did make your team lose their cool with some pressure and physical challenges. In the end too many of your players lost their temper and made a succession of rash challenges.

Didnt see the penalty, so cant comment, but if the ref thought it was a sending off then there must have been at the very least intent.

Good support from your lot today, both in numbers and noise!

Oh, and our no. 9 was Watson who seems to be one of the most hated players at the club, he got pelters again today. Im a fan of his, but I seem to be in a club of 1.

It looked to me that at the penalty shout Flyer nicked the ball kind of between 2 players, one knocked him over and the other took the ball and we got the corner.

To say he should be booked for diving is simply ridiculous.

For most of the second half I was standing virtually underneath the camera platform, right up against the segregation fence, taking photos (see www.putfile.com/dyker). There was this guy on the other side of the fence who spent almost all of the second half shouting obscenities at the East Fife players and supporters, effing this and 'c' ing that. Then, when the vociferous East Fife supporters standing behind me broke into a song with a couple of swearywords in it, this old guy in the Lichties' support standing near the front shouted up at the two guys filming the match "ah hope ye're capturing all this foul language from this lot!" - as he pointed at the East Fife choir! Absolutely priceless piece of 'selective hearing'.
Anyway, game over, it's the season of goodwill to all, so a happy New Year to everyone, Methilites and Lichties alike!

The stonewall penalty never was for Arbroath. I was right in line with play at that point and it was, quite simply, a blatant attempt at cheating.

Blackadder deserved to get sent off. IMO, he took his frustration out on the player and should have known better.

What goes on inside the ground should stay inside the ground and there is at least one AFC fan that would do well to remember that. Thankfully, the police were already there in numbers to deal with the tunnel incident and they managed to move the muppet on that was waiting for us leaving the ground challenging with his handbag or similair.

It's fitba mate - the Fife fans appreciate the fact that we can have banter during a game but some of AFC fans really need to take a chill pill and stop wanting to take it outside like you did when you were 12.

Good day out yesterday. In the words of I_10 the Arbroath fans threw the "dummy out the pram." as they couldn't take the banter thrown at them.

We played some good stuff 1st half and then went back to punt the ball as far as we can and ruuuuuuuuun!! zzzzzzzzz!

Arbroath never looked like scoring and Dodds has now played 2 good games for us and hardly even had a save to make.

We need to get back to winning ways, the closing pack are catching us week by week so hopefully Baikie will get more players in, in January.

Hopefully I'll be back in time to see us lift the trophy against Montrose on 31st March at Bayview!

That was my last game before I go back and I hate to say it but there is no way we will win the league if that's how we approach games 'tactically'.

Definitely a sending off. No question. He knew it himself

Some of the Arbroath fans also displayed signs of suffering from "small cock syndrome".

Understandable though, it's not every day that a big team like East Fife come to town.

Couldn't believe the headlines in the Sunday mail saying EF "lost the plot"! Did we surround the referee at every decision, did any of our players run 40 yards to demand a booking ofr sending off, was Blackadder's challenge any worse then the ont the Smokies left back did on Hamps 2 minutes earlier? Answer to all these questions ....NO
Raeside was like a man demented for the whole game & rennie wasn't much better! The ref was won over by their antics & he was the only person that lost the plot.
Jon Smart's booking was a joke! preparing to volley a dropping ball & Sellars did brilliantly to take it away from him just as he swung his leg. A foul yes but a booking no way!
Have to say we must make some decent signings or the wheels will come off the bogey! Think there were a couple guys that probably wore the black & gold for the last time yesterday.

I_10, has the syndrome you speak of perhaps got something to do with the freezing cold conditions at Gayfield?

Even if we did get in new players,would it make much difference?
Fair enough we need to strengthen the squad,but the main problem is the try not to lose attitude that Baikie has.TBH,I have been totally surprised at the tactics he has been employing.Tactics that could and will cost us promotion in a league that is there for the taking.
Yesterday was the perfect example,play well, score then shut up shop then punt,punt,punt.
Is he Jim Moffat in disguise??

Who'd be a manager,eh?

What I'd like to do is train the players to be good at football and accept that there will be a few beatings along the way. The rewards at the end of the day could be worthwhile.

Thank goodness for a bit of controversy to liven up a fairly average encounter. I was delighted with the handbags near fulltime, it almost made attending the game - which was uninspiring - worthwhile.

I thought it was a penalty for Arbroath - Flyer ran at pace straight at the defence. He is just not a diver, his weakness is lashing out and your players had been trying to rattle him with since he does fly off the handle. It was our Asst Coach that was booked by the linesman not John McGlashan

Good turnout from the away support and not too bad from the home fans. East Fife were the only team playing for the first 20 minutes and we seemed to be dominant last 20. So an even game - we needed a win more than you so a better result for you.

Question - is there a large coaching and support staff for east Fife? Your dugout seemed very crowded. Is that Baikie's minders - if so they failed in their duties.

The singing from the EF fans was excellent, even though there were a few 'bad' words used that were not really needed. What annoyed me more than that though, were the few supporters who parked themselves at the front by the camera stand beside both young & female fans and right from the word go, swore like troopers with no regard for the youngsters and ladies. There was one chap amongst them wearing a light blue/white jacket, who hardly looked at the game at all, but did most of the cursing and was just a total prat, who did not care who heard his foul language.

I think I know the group you are talking about. They were there to see their mate in action, and were not east fife fans.

Thank goodness for that! Wonder who their mate is?