East Fife 4-0 Saints B

East Fife took the lead on 15 minutes as Alan Trouten converted his penalty despite Jack Wills guessing the correct way.

Scott Mercer doubled the Methil sides lead on 58 minutes before Saints defender Liam Parker was sent off on 63 minutes after picking up a second yellow card for a foul on João Baldé.

East Fife then went on to take advantage of the extra man. Michael Cunningham scored a third for the Fifers on 80 minutes before substitute Sam Martin slotted home from close range after a scramble in the box with 5 minutes remaining to seal a comfortable victory.

MATCH REPORT

Saints B made the short trip to Fife this evening to take on League Two side East Fife in the second round of the SPFL Trust Trophy. There were four changes to the Saints side which started at Fraserburgh in the last round a fortnight ago. John Mahon, Cammy Ballantyne, Adam McMillan and Ben McCrystal came in to replace Liam Gordon, Charlie Gilmour, Taylor Steven and Bailey Pert. East Fife manager Stevie Crawford made four changes to the team which started their 1-0 home win against Forfar Athletic at the weekend as Stewart Murdoch, Alex Ferguson, who is currently on-loan from Saints, Kieran Millar and Ryan Shiavone dropped out and they were replaced by Alan Trouten, Jack Healy, Michael Cunningham and Lucas Williamson.

Michael Cunningham got the match underway for the hosts but it was Saints who would create the first chance of the match on 3 minutes. Good play by Saints saw Cammy Ballantyne play the ball into the path of Liam Parker but the defender saw his long-range effort parried by Fifers keeper Allan Fleming before Scott Mercer turned the ball behind for a corner. Max Kucheriavyi took the corner from the left and his delivery into the box was met by Parker who got up well to meet the ball however, his header went the wrong side of the post.

On 14 minutes the Methil side were awarded a penalty after Scott Shepherd had been brought down by Saints keeper Jack Wills following a long ball over the top which had played in the East Fife forward. Former Alloa Athletic midfielder Alan Trouten stepped up to take the penalty and he slotted it in the bottom right hand corner, despite Wills guessing the correct way, to give the League Two side the lead.  

Saints came close to an equaliser on 26 minutes as Bobby Dailly’s cross from the right was met by Adam McMillan however, the header from 12 yards from the Saints forward went inches over the crossbar.

With 9 minutes of the first half remaining great play by Spencer Moreland saw him win the ball from on-loan Hibs midfielder João Baldé before playing in Kucheriavyi down the right. The Ukrainian advanced down the right channel before picking out Moreland in the box however, his strike took a deflection off an East Fife defender which took the sting out of the shot as Fleming easily gathered the ball.

The young Perth side were holding their own against the League Two side and on 40 minutes Kucheriavyi cut the ball back to Dailly and he sent over an inviting ball into the box which McMillan was inches away from connecting with. Then shortly after McMillan laid the ball off to Moreland however, his long range right footed effort went narrowly over.   

The final chance of the half fell to the hosts in the first minute of added on time as a good run by Baldé saw the Portuguese midfielder play in Cunningham however, his strike didn’t trouble Wills.

East Fife made one change before the second half could get underway as Kieran Millar came on to replace Alan Trouten.   

2 minutes into the second half John Mahon made an excellent tackle to cut out a dangerous Cunningham ball into the Saints box.

Play then quickly switched to the other end as Ballantyne played the ball into the path of Ben McCrystal but his curling effort didn’t trouble Fleming.

On 58 minutes a Mercer free kick from the right broke to Jack Healy but Wills made an excellent save as he turned the ball over for a corner. Baldé took the corner from the right and his delivery was met by Mercer who took a touch before despatching a low strike beyond Wills to double the Fifers lead.

Saints evening got even worse on 63 minutes as Liam Parker was sent off after picking up a second booking for a foul on Baldé. From the resultant free kick Mercer’s delivery picked put former Saint Sam Denholm however, the header from the defender hit the side netting.

Saints made a change on 65 minutes as Filip Franczak came on to replace Ben McCrystal. The Perth side made another change shortly after as Adam McMillan was replaced by Kodi McKinstray as Saints looked to try and get a goal to make the closing stages interesting.

East Fife though went on to take advantage of the extra man as they netted a third with 10 minutes remaining. Cunningham did well to beat the offside trap and raced in on goal before beating Wills at his near post.  

The Fifers then got a fourth goal on 85 minutes as Healy played the ball into the box and following a stramash substitute Sam Martin slotted the ball home from 3 yards.

Scott Bright had the ball in the net for Saints on 88 minutes after he had been played in by Kucheriavyi however, play was pulled back as the defender was deemed to have been in an offside position. Kucheriavyi then almost scored a consolation for Saints as he skipped past several East Fife players as he broke into the box however, Fleming was alert to the danger as he was out quick to smoother the ball at the feet of the Ukrainian.  

East Fife: Fleming, Mercer, Steele, Shepherd (Shiavone 57), Trouten (Millar 45), Healy, Newton (Ramsay 79), Denham, Cunningham, Baldé (Martin 84), Williamson

Unused Substitutes: Rollo (GK), Allan, Murray

Booked: Shepherd

Scorers: Trouten (15 pen), Mercer (58), Cunningham (80), Martin (85)

Saints B: Wills, Moreland, Bright, Dailly, Parker, Mahon, Kucheriavyi, Sandford, McMillan (McKinstray 72), Ballantyne, McCrystal (Franczak 65)

Unused Substitutes: Hepburn (GK), Ellison, Scott

Booked: Parker, Kucheriavyi

Sent Off: Parker

Referee: Ross Hardie  

Attendance: 202

Match Report by Daryl Scott

Picture: William Sandford

Liam Craig was on the touchline this evening and after the match he spoke to Samuel Porritt;

LC “It’s tough, I said to them in their me and Alex (Cleland) take a bit of responsibility for that. When we get a man sent off it would have been easy to go 4-4-1 and shut up shop but we have got good players in the team. We felt that if we pushed Spencer (Moreland) up to try and get a goal, it would make a game of the last 20 minutes. Unfortunately, it didn’t work but we did create one or two opportunities. Scott Bright has delivered a good few balls into the box from the left-hand side and Max has given a few down the right-hand side but it just wouldn’t fall for us.

“I am disappointed with the start of the game after the initial 5 minutes, Liam Parker had a shot and a header, but we were not good enough on the ball, so that was disappointing. It’s tough to lose 4-0 but we will learn from it especially the younger ones. It is great to come here, Adam McMillan has just turned 16 and is playing up front, and all down the left-hand side we had 16 year olds (Ben McCrystal and Scott Bright) and they will learn from it.

“I have got to say well done to the senior ones, John Mahon and Cammy Ballantyne, coming in, they helped the players massively. Disappointed to go out of the cup and to lose 4-0 but we have got to look at the positives with the young players.

“It’s massive to play against senior opposition. We have played against a few Lowland League teams in pre-season and we recently went up to a team (Fraserburgh) that won the Highland League last season and they don’t get beat at home too often and we won 2-0 comfortably. That was the first time we got through that round. To come to East Fife, they have won 3 of their opening 4 games, and they were playing with a bit of confidence. You could see at times they’ve got that quality and that game knowledge that our players will get but they’ve not quite got it yet and I think that showed in spells in the game.

“There have been so many positives with our Development Squad. We have played Arbroath twice in the last couple of weeks, we drew 2-2 at home with them and that was Arbroath’s first team that was playing with them. We then went up to Arbroath last week and won 3-1. The players will benefit massively from playing in these games.”