Alloa Athletic 1-1 East Fife – Match Report by Oli Anderson
🏆William Hill League 1
đź“ŤIndodrill Stadium
🗓️Saturday 18th October | Kick-off: 3:00pm
Last Saturday, East Fife started the second quarter with an important point on the road. Considering the performance, it could be argued that we deserved more from the contest, although as first team coach Stuart Malcolm detailed after the contest while speaking with EFTV: “any point on the road is a good point.”
The first half was a bit of a nothing contested in all honesty, with both sides playing some slick stuff at times, sharing bouts of possession. However, the game was largely contested in the middle of the park, and neither team could test Ruairidh Adams, or Liam McFarlane.
The second half, however, saw the game spring into life. Alloa set off quickly and opened the scoring through Luke Rankin. East Fife had at least three chances to clear the ball though it bobbled right through to Luke Rankin who fired home from close range, after 55 minutes of play.
Straight from kick off, East Fife looked to find the equaliser. Lewis Latona picked up the ball on the edge of the 18-yard box and fired his shot at McFarlane. It was blocked on the way in however, and the rebound was just too far out of reach from Kieran Millar, who couldn’t get on the end of it.
The next passage of play however did see East Fife grab our equaliser. We loaded men forward and burst into the left-hand side of the box, with Latona laying the ball off for Jess Norey. Before Norey could get his shot away, he was wiped out inside the box.
It would be untrue to deny a momentary worry of who would take the penalty, with spot-kick specialist Alan Trouten missing through injury, but those fears were tossed aside when Michael McKenna stepped up and wrapped his shot low into the bottom corner, beating the outstretched McFarlane from 12-yards. 60 minutes played, 1-1.
Both teams had chances in the latter stages, though East Fife’s were perhaps the better of the two sides. McLeod was first up, as he fought hard to outmuscle his marker and get a shot away, but it was a simple stop for McFarlane between the sticks.
Five minutes later, Rob Jones had a pop, and although his header was well-directed, there wasn’t enough power behind it to cause any bother.
That brought an end to the contest, as the scores finished level. It was a disappointing end to the game, with some frustrating decisions throughout spoiling what could have been another great game between two strong sides.
Reporter’s Man of the Match: Mamadou Bah
We saw the best 90 minutes of Bah’s East Fife career on Saturday, as the centre half certainly imposed himself on the game. He was everywhere, winning crucial challenges at huge moments in the game, denying many an Alloa attack throughout. He was nothing short of superb.
Alloa Athletic – McFarlane, Taggart, Dewar, Devine, Adamson (Sammon 80’), Roberts, Scougall, O’Donnell, Rankin, Orsi (Burnside 71’), Buchannan. Subs not used: Ogayi, Graham, Clarke, Eadson, McKay, Stewart.
East Fife – Adams, McLeod, Peggie, Munro, Bah, Millar, McManus (Jones 67’), Norey (Newton 87’), Latona, Culbert, McKenna. Subs not used: Slattery, Austin, Nicol, Rollo.
Referee – Euan Anderson
Attendance – 708
