Shot-shy Shire shaken by the fortunate Fifers

by Mark Langdon

Weather
Windy and overcast. Bitterly cold in the secondperiod, particularly when the blustery conditions got worse.

Pitch condition
Looked in good nick but played poorly with plenty of uneven patches.

Best prices
7-2 E Stirling
8-11 East Fife
29-10 draw

Was the result a fair reflection?
No way. This was daylight robbery. East Stirling were the better team but the visitors nicked a victory much to the delight of punters who forced East Fife’s pre-match price of 8-11 into 4-6 by kick off.
East Fife opened the scoringafter just two minutes when Paul Ritchie’s through ball found Paul Walker in plenty of space and he lobbed the ball over advancing goalie Anton Nugent. However, the rest of the opening period belonged to the home side.
Mark McKenzie’s rasping volley was just too high and then the tricky winger flashes a shot wide of the post.
The Shire remained the better side after the interval and Carl Thywissen should have equalised, but he headed over from six yards. Paul McBride was then denied by a sensational save from John Dodds and you started to get the feeling it was not to be their day.
And as East Stirling tired, the Fifers come into the game.
Nugent denied Craig O’Reilly and Ritchie, before O’Reilly sprang the offside trap and made the game safe after his first shot was blocked.

How did East Stirling play?
You can see why they have failed to score at home for 1,004 long minutes.
Much of their play up to the final third is bright, but there is little to admire about the final ball. You could say they are the Arsenal of the Scottish Third Division.
The Shire don’t make the most of their approach play.
Even the introduction of the much-travelled A Trialist failed to end their miserable drought.

How did East Fife play?
You sensed they were not quite up for it when the subs warmed up by taking in turns to blast the ball back off the huge concrete wall behind one of the goals.
All in all this was a poor effort from a team who were odds-on to win the title at one stage this season, and you can see why they have slipped down the standings. Punters who backed the Fifers on Saturday got lucky and need to thank goalkeeper Dodds and centre-backs Jonathan Smart and Paul Doyle, who were rocks at the heart of defence.

Different gear
Shire skipper Andrew Brand ran the show in the first half and looks capable of playing at a higher level, while the tiny McKenzie was a bundle of tricks after the break.

Woeful
East Fife right winger Graham Gibson looked a bit likeDarren Anderton from a distance, only thinner. And he was poor with and without the ball.

Champagne moment
The PA announcer was brilliant. “We are the best team in Falkirk... well Falkirk town centre” and “Lets hope we produce a shock ratherthan a shocker” were just two of his hilarious pre-match ramblings.

Ref watch
Arbiter Laws has the right name to be a ref and he did okay.

Pointers
East Fife are easily opposable in forthcoming matches if this is their true formand they don’t seem capable of mounting a title chalenge.
Shire are looking to avoid the wooden spoon for the fifth season in succession and they are not as bad as some believe.
This could be the year they don’t finish bottom.

Line-ups and ratings
East Stirling (4-4-2): A Nugent 7; P MacAloney 5, C Thywissen 7, S Oates 7, S Learmouth 4; M McKenzie 8, P Stewart 7, A Brand 8, D Ure 5 (Trialist 73, 5); P McBride 4, (P Brownlie 83, 5) P Tweedie 4 (S Dymock 83, 5).
East Fife (4-4-2): J Dodds 8; E Smith 6, J Smart 8, P Doyle 8, K McBride 6; G Gibson 4 (K Gordan 54, 6), R Blackadder 5 (N Jablowski 54, 7), G McDonald 6, P Walker 7; P Ritchie 6, C O’Reilly 6 (S Nicholas 88, 5).
Referee: Laws 7.

Getting there.....
Firs Park is walkable from Falkirk’s two stations, with trains taking between 30 and 45 minutes from Glasgow. As you may expect, there’s plenty of car-parking space.

The ground...
Just like Braga’s stadium, Firs Park has no standsbehind either goal. But unlike Braga’s beautiful mountains, East Stirling have a grass bank at one end and a Land of Leather at the other.

Atmosphere...
The 358 diehards shouted encouragement, but singing was left to just a few intoxicated home supporters.

Half-time entertainment...
The PA spoke non-stop for the entire break, even letting fans know where he’s going on holiday. Northern Cyprus and Istanbul in case you are
interested.

Having a bet...
You’re having a laugh. No chance.

Programme...
Insightful stuff and well worth the Scottish pound note that it cost. Informative and easy to read despite being in black and white.

NEVER READ SO MUCH SHITE IN ALL MY LIFE.

RACING POST GET TAE FU@K

who is the biased one?

She was right about the programme but there were no PA announcements at half-time. I reckon she was at the wrong game...

Apologies for the above post.
The second Monday in every month I turn into a sexist twat for half an hour in the evening...

I find it hard to argue with most of the article, tbh.

And there WERE PA announcements apparently - it's just that the speakers no longer work at the terracing side (thank fcuk).

"Punters who backed the Fifers on Saturday got lucky and need to thank goalkeeper Dodds and centre-backs Jonathan Smart and Paul Doyle, who were rocks at the heart of defence".

Hammy - our winning streak has made it into the press!!

Good Post

All sounds good to me

Got to agree about their thoughts on Mr Gibson as well. Not doubting his effort and will not get on his back when he is playing, but I think we have 5 players on our books I would rather see playing wide right in the run-in than him. John Martin being top of the list!