Match report 24/4/99
The snow of last week was forgotten as the guid lady and I headed off to Puerto Rico
in Grand Canaria on the Monday following the Livi draw. Sitting in the Copacabana bar in
the Wednesday night I say ManU come back from a 2 goal deficit to overcome Juventus,
Chelsea fail to pull back from 1 nil down in Mallorca the following night and at half time
in the Tom and Jerry Bar on Saturday we were one nil down. Eurosport and CNN being
crap for results meant that I had to go and read a Sunday paper at a newspaper stand to
find that our heroes had AGAIN pulled back from being one nil down to record yet
another fine victory over East Fife. Thanks to our man on the spot, Steve or is it Alan, we have the following eye witness report:-
"Our first trip to the New Bayview was one filled with dread. If we lost
and Partick won we would slip into the relegation zone. Thanks to subsidised buses from
the committee the Lichties brought a "large Arbroath faithful" (Scotland on Sunday).
With their first attack of the game East Fife struck a devastating blow with a header
from Barry Moffat. This didn’t stop the Arbroath support from making a lot of noise.
Unfortunately a lot of it was undeserving criticism of Jim Mercer (clearly happier in
midfield than up front). Jim Mercer, whatever his failings are, is still an Arbroath player
and his commitment later hopefully silenced a few.
So at half time it was 1-0 and the only consolation was that Partick were losing.
If only we had that support earlier in the season I doubt we would have been in
the same position. Questions must be asked why we keep going one-nil down before
bothering to score. As much as I hate the thought of Arbroath having a one stand
stadium at Ogilvie Park it helped the atmosphere that everyone was squashed
together.
Now the team is in order, lets get Gayfield in order!"
Arbroath lined up with Wighty in goals (Hinchie still suspended). The defence was
Captain Courageous John McAulay, future POY Jonathan (no "h") Crawford, the ever
balding Scott Peters at right back and John "June Jet" Gall at left back. Midfield had
youngster Barry Donachie/Donaghy in for suspended Tindal, Fatty Arbuckle, Barry Sellars
(right) and Big Jim Mercer on the left. Up front again were Chris Devine and "midfielder"
(according to the East Fife programme) Colin McGlashan. Doug Scott, Neil Thomson
and John Elliot were on the bench. Former Arbroath target and injured Ben Honeyman
failed to line up for the opposition.
East Fife had few other chances in a rough first half that Arbroath dominated. Barry
Moffat looked like he had pace to beat Arbroath defenders if he could stay on side. Steve
Kirk didn’t have pace but never stayed on side either. Steve Kirk’s performance was the
epitome of a former pro. He looked slow, couldn’t stay on side, stood in the way of our
free kicks and took every opportunity to influence the referee. He also took an eternity to
come of the pitch when he was subbied when East Fife were still leading 1-0. Endured 66
minutes of unrelenting abuse from Arbroath fans. East Fife indulged in a lot of
time-wasting which resulted in a stramash between Graeme Irons and his opposite number
over the speed of delivery of spare balls.
Arbroath’s chances in the first half were limited to a Barry Sellars strike against the
bar and a tame shot from Scotty Peters. McGlashan blasted a free-kick over from a similar
range to his crucial away goal to Stirling. New-boy Donachie/Donaghy was playing well
and Sellars did a lot of tackling back. On one occasion he was crippled by the corner flag
for his troubles.
The referee continued his startlingly opprobrious performance in the second half
which contributed to a few Fifers (notably Steve Ramsay and some guy that did a hatchet
job on "June Jet") getting off without cautions. East Fife played long balls in the second
half with a 8-0-2 formation and Arbroath continued attacking using a mix of long and
short balls. The big defence made it difficult to get meaningful efforts on target.
Mercer injured his hip early on in an aerial collision. Although in obvious pain he
carried on for a bit, collapsing in agony after a shot and after each challenge he made
afterwards. Eventually he was subbed to huge applause. If the big man gets some support
and confidence he may just be able to do a similar job to Derek Townsley, another with
good close control for a big guy.
Midway through the half we got a break and a cross from the right found Sellars six
yards from goal. He could only put his header wide which was devastating. The crowd
quieted and a few tears were seen.
Just when every attack seemed hopeless Methil goalie McCulloch somehow
contrived to let the ball fall under him on the edge of the box. McGlashan robbed him and
squared to ‘Sid’ Devine to score. This sent the away crowd into raptures. Soon after
McGlashan turned on a proverbial sixpence on the edge of the box, in what may have been
an offside position (who cares), and battered the ball into the top corner. Again the away
crowd celebrate and make more antagonistic gestures towards the Methil fans. Lichties
fans goaded the opposition with chants of "New Year at Cowden" but the new prospect
for us is spending New Year in Dingwall. Unless of course Brechin stop the rot afflicting
our Angus cohorts. Fifer Roberston was sent off for arguing about the possibility of
offside. This, and the score, forced East Fife to change their tactics to a less defensive
7-0-2 and they continued with their long balls. Arbroath were growing stronger and John
Elliot could have got a penalty if he did a ‘Cooper’ (dive) but he stayed on his feet and ran
the ball out of play. Elliot showed good control throughout the game but lacked the ability
to play a final penetrating ball.
With Arbroath continuing to attack, East Fife broke at pace and Peters resorted to
conceding a free kick on the edge of the box. He received a caution for his troubles and
the free-kick was blocked. Subsequent corners ten minutes into injury time only resulted
in the Fifers hitting the bar.
This was a brilliant result and without tempting fate we must be as good as
safe. Every player gave 100% commitment and so did most fans. The players
obviously appreciated it and, again, so did the fans. Now we can almost look
forward to the long trips to Dingwall, Stranraer and Dumfries again. It’s high time
individuals stopped slagging Big Jim. His commitment is much greater than
Coopers has been, on many occasions (especially away at Alloa and QOS), this
season. Donachie/Donaghy looks worth holding on to and Peters must feel
aggrieved at missing most of the season.