To the uninitiated or people who were not present, no-scoring draws are seen as boring affairs with no action, no excitement and no goals. This perception is, of course, rubbish, for although there is no positive result either way at the end of the ninety minutes, the match can be full of interest - and this one was.

League leaders East Fife went scampering back to the Kingdom with a valuable point in their promotion locker; a point which they really didn’t earn and which they had no right to add to their total, for they were outplayed from start to finish by a Rovers’ team which led them a merry dance and did everything right - except actually hit the back of the net.

On two occasions the woodwork intervened to save the visitors, on many more the ball rebounded from the forest of legs in the area, referee John Fleming ignored one strong - very strong - claim for a penalty and Jim Butter in the East Fife goal had an excellent match.

Rovers set out their stall right away and with less than two minutes on the clock a Jered Stirling throw-in released John Bradford who did well to send over a low cross which Butter gathered at his near post. Almost immediately, a Kevin McAllister lob into the middle led to a joust between Butter and home skipper Jim Mercer almost on the goal line. The ‘keeper won and the danger was averted.

Penalty Claim

In 12 minutes, Iain Diack fired in a good shot which Butter blocked, with Bradford’s try from the rebound meeting the same fate. Within seconds came the penalty claim that Paul Mortimer had impeded Diack from behind. It looked a good shout, but Mr Fleming thought otherwise. Then East Fife got upfield in their first serious raid but James Herkes’ cross was headed high over the crossbar by Craig McMillan.

In 35 minutes, great footwork by Jered Stirling on the left allowed him to lay the ball off to Kevin McAllister twelve yards out but the wee man’s low drive skimmed past the outside of a post - and he was still looking for his first goal for the club. Four minutes later, a corner by the same player was cleared to Chris Silvestro lying in wait 20 yards out, but the usually deadly midfielder suffered the embarrassment of a fresh-air shot and Peter Cormack, following up, skied the ball well over the top. At the other end, Herkes "scored" for the Fifers but a correct offside decision cut short his celebrations.

Woodwork To The Rescue

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, ie almost continuous Rovers’ pressure. In 49 minutes a McAllister corner bounced off the top of the crossbar, and although the visitors had a wee spell of their own in which they forced three quick-fire corners, normal service was soon restored when a Diack cross was headed past the near post by Bradford. In 59 minutes, the woodwork again came to the Fifers’ rescue, Diack’s splendid corner smacking off the face of the bar.

After the same player had a header saved by Butter, Charles McLean replaced McAllister who left the field to a splendid reception. The onslaught continued virtually unabated, but although Bradford came close to snatching victory in the second-last minute, it just wasn’t Rovers’ day - and two vital points slipped away. There were only two bookings; Rovers’ Chris Silvestro and the Fifers’ John Allison.

Albion Rovers : Shearer, Paterson, Stirling, Smith, Cormack, Lumsden, McAllister (McLean 63), Silvestro, Bradford, Diack, Mercer. Unused Subs : Dick, McCaig, McCaul, Fahey.

East Fife : Butter, Russell, Donaldson, Mortimer, Hall, Allison, McMillan (Love 75), Graham, Deuchar, Herkes, Cunningham (Gilbert 64). Unused Subs : Lumsden, Rollo, Martin.

Referee : John Fleming.