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East Fife 4 v 0 Albion Rovers |  |
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East Fife 4 v 0 Albion Rovers | |
| Irn-Bru League Third Division 6th October 2007 |
Attendance : 639
Scorers ~ East Fife : Cameron (40 pen), McManus 73, Linn 77, Smart 88.
Although clement it was not a pleasant day to be an Albion Rovers fan in Methil, firstly travel worries which were thankfully more or less unfounded. Next being treated poorly by the home side for sitting 20 yards nearer the half-way line than they wanted although they didn't advise fans of this until well after kick-off, moving them without apology or decent explanation. Next and most importantly the referee and Rovers defensive frailties combined with some help from league leaders East Fife to pile more misery on!
Rovers squad featured no less than three fresh faces who all started the match on the bench. Ally Mitchell, John Gemmell and 'keeper Tony Mitchell who had been on the Cliftonhill books many years previously were the trio.
After a minutes applause in memory of a recently deceased East Fife official the game started fairly tamely. In six minutes Alan Benton cleared the ball from close to Rovers goal following a slightly wayward attempt.
A minute later Roddy Hunter had a shot blocked, the ball fell to Jamie McKenzie who passed for Callan Adam to try his luck but the resultant shot was inches over the Fifers crossbar.
A East Fife corner led to 'keeper David Scott coming forward only for the ball to bounce off his chest rather than catch it, luckily for Rovers it avoided their opponents.
McKenzie then had a chance to impress from a free-kick not far from the Fifers penalty area, defender Graham Guy headed it over his own goal for a corner. The corner led to a penalty for Rovers which baffled most people in the ground. Apparently Mr. Charleston decided that Ryan Blackadder had been holding Ciaran Donnelly as McKenzie struck the corner.
Hunter was the man to take the spot-kick but his placement the ball to the 'keepers right was sufficiently close for the stopper to get a hand to. Kenny Wright was on the scene quickly but his attempt was deflected for a corner.
Play switched ends quickly but ended when the ball was launched high over Rovers bar. Alan Reid saw his cross into the homesters box cut out by Willie McCulloch then a huge ball upfield to Wright was also cut out by the 'keeper a second ahead of the strikers arrival.
A sneaky header from former Rover Paul McManus as he faced away from goal wasn't far off target although Scott looked to have it in his sights.
In 31 minutes a blatant handball by an East Fife player just outside his own box mysteriously resulted in a free-kick to his team. Next Hunter did well to dispossess Guy and give Wright an opportunity, he took a couple of steps fired a couple inches over.
A couple of failed attempts by the home side preceded another strange penalty decision by the referee in 40 minutes when a McManus shot came off a hand in the Rovers box. The hand appeared to be an East Fife one but Donnelly was shown the red card. Dougie Cameron made no mistake from the spot and the home side were ahead.
Half-Time
Jamie McKenzie took an early second half corner which Wright at the front post made contact with and it took a second before it was clear that he'd directed it past the outside of the post.
Seconds later Blackadder would have doubled his sides lead had it not been for Scott pulling off a quality diving stop from his free-kick. More missed chances for the home side were to follow and a John Gemmell one which he back heeled inches wide of the target before the league leaders got their second.
It came in 73 minutes when a long ball forward found McManus who dodged the advancing Rovers 'keeper to prod the ball into the net. Shortly afterward Cameron's corner to Steven Tweed resulted in a strong header being well saved by Scott.
In 77 minutes on-loan from Morton striker Bobby Linn dodged the defence to fire an unstoppable ball into the postage stamp from the edge of Rovers penalty area. The scoring was completed in 88 minutes when Jonathan Smart chested down a cross and fired home from close range.
A Craig O'Reilly shot being blocked at point-blank range by Scott finished the game.
Summary
A shocking performance from the referee went some of the way to explain what happened to Rovers but had they scored their penalty and stuck in more than they did things may have gone differently. A sixth consecutive defeat on Tuesday to Forfar by two or more goals would see Rovers replace the Angus side at the bottom of the table so a real six pointer in the offing!
East Fife : McCulloch, Guy, Cameron, Smart, Tweed, Blackadder, Walker (Linn 66), Stewart (Martin 81), McManus, Gordon (O'Reilly 76), Fotheringham. Subs Not Used : McDonald, Linton.
Albion Rovers : Scott, Robert Walker, McGowan, Donnelly, Benton, Donald, Reid, McKenzie (Graham Watson 69), Hunter (Gemmell 66), Adam, Wright (Chisholm 77). Subs Not Used : Martin, Mitchell.
Referee : Craig Charleston
