East Fife 1 Accies 4: Tuesday, 27 March 2001

Scottish League Divison 3, New Bayview, Methil

Tuesday, 27 March 2001

TEAM NEWS

Ally Dawson made just one change from the side that had won at Cliftonhill just two days earlier, with Michael Moore returning in place of Robert Downs, who was relegated to the bench.

FIRST HALF

It was utterly freezing at New Bayview and Accies were shooting into the wind in the first half. (If you haven't been there before, the stadium sits close to the North Sea and the prevailing winds can be a bit chilly, to be diplomatic.)

Anyway, Accies started out looking quite purposeful in attack and Paul Gaughan powered in a header which the 'keeper held easily. The Fifers immediately broke down the right hand side and one of their players was criminally allowed to run about 50 yards without a tackle from an Accies defender. He was awake enough to spot one of his team mates at the far post and he had the easiest of jobs to beat Ian Macfarlane for 1-0.

Accies were still the dominant team in the first half and had a couple of close things too. The best of these was a great shot by Michael Moore which the home goalie did well to tip round the post.

At half time, the Fifers inflicted some gross cruelty on a bunch of innocent schoolchildren by forcing them to play a five a side game on the park.

As ever, the pies at New Bayview were totally brilliant.

SECOND HALF

Accies had the wind at their backs in the second half and the result was that East Fife made little progress towards Ian Macfarlane's goal. Accies were really up for it and this attitude was exemplified by Stuart Callaghan. The ball bounced out of play and over the barrier to near where the Accies support were seated. Stuart vaulted the barrier and took the throw in from behind the barrier, fully 10 feet from the edge of the pitch. This led to an Accies corner, from which we equalised.

The ball was flighted in by Michael Martin and was only just punched clear by the home 'keeper. It came out to Dylan Kerr about 10 yards out and he cracked the ball home for his first Accies goal. He than ran off to one of the unoccupied corners of the pitch and hid behind the floodlight pylon before sprinting back up the pitch. (This probably prevented him from getting a booking for the over elaborate celebration.)

This is where sod's law applies and I have to admit to being totally unprofessional. Just as the excitement over the goal was dying down, I decided to call my pal George to relay the good news. So I was just trying to tap his number into my mobile when I looked up to see the ball hit the net for goal number 2. Apparently, someone hit a shot from 25 yards out which hit Michael Martin before flying into the net. The announcer awarded it to Michael and although the Ceefax has credited as an own goal, I'll give him the credit until I hear otherwise.

Accies were really in the mood now and went all out for more goals. They created some good chances too, with the best of them falling to Stuart Callaghan. He was left with only the 'keeper to beat, but dithered before bringing a good save out of him, with ball just scraping the post.

A third goal looked on the cards, but the way in which it arrived was unique in my 30 years of watching Accies. I have seen Accies goalies score before (Graham McLean's own goal in the early '70s anyone?), but I've never seen a goalie score with a long kick out. Ian Macfarlane had been causing the home defence problems with his long kicks throughout the second half, but this time he just caught it beautifully, like Tiger Woods with a 4 wood in his hand. The ball landed about 20 yards out and bounced high towards the goal. Sadly for the home 'keeper, he misjudged the bounce and was only able to get a finger tip to it before it landed in the net. Naturally, the Accies fans and players went berserk and Faldo was clearly delighted with himself - and so he should be.

The final goal was created by a slide rule pass from Gary Clark. David McFarlane ran through and planted the ball home beautifully to restore his confidence and complete the scoring.

IN CONCLUSION...

This was a must win game for Accies and they did so with some style. The collection of 6 points from two tricky away matches in three days will have done a lot to restore the confidence within the club as well as taking them to the top of the league table on goal difference. I can't wait for the Cowdenbeath game at the weekend.

It was just a shame that Ian Macfarlane's moment of glory was witnessed by so few of the Accies fans, although there were a good number of regulars at the game.

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