East Fife v Arbroath

[sneed hearn]

Difference between the two teams was the quality at both ends of the pitch.Missing chances at one end and poor defending at the other is a recipe for a very difficult season.The defending by the 2 central defenders for the third goal was a disgrace.Clever play from Arbroath but for both defenders to fall for dummies was primary school stuff.East Fife need a win quickly.

[Big lichtie]

totaly agree if east fife had anything you would call a striker we could of lost that game. swankie ran the show for me . hester got his chance to impress today but was shocking so please no more he needs a chance he got it didnt take it simples

[SimonLichtie]

10 minutes ago, Big lichtie said:

totaly agree if east fife had anything you would call a striker we could of lost that game. swankie ran the show for me . hester got his chance to impress today but was shocking so please no more he needs a chance he got it didnt take it simples

Who would your preferred front two be?

[A.K. Barr]

Court did look offside at the time but the teamwork from the officials was untidy. Wonder what the referee supervisor in the stand though about it. Standard of refereeing in the lower leagues is awful and Fife don't even have a top referee on the list mmmmm.

Referee took time to consult his linesman and ultimately they come to the correct decision between them. Good officiating.

[Bayviewboy]

 
For the disallowed goal I’m certain the guy was a mile off, but the linesman thought Ricky Little got a touch or that it was an Arbroath player who put him through, ref obviously said it wasn’t and it was correctly disallowed. Need to see it back again but positive they got it right.

To be honest, I think they eventually got the decision right, but took a long time to do it and it was only after vociferous complaints from the Arbroath players. When the Fife player tried to play it through, Court was in an offside position, but then it was touched by Little on the way through. The Referee looked to the linesman who didn’t flag for offside so Court went on and scored. Linesman runs towards halfway line signalling a goal, Referee points to centre spot awarding the goal. Arbroath players complain, Ref speaks to Assistant and gives offside. Right decision but bizarre way of getting there !!
In terms of the game, 3-0 flatters Arbroath a bit but they were clinical in front of goal, we weren’t and they rode their luck a little at the back. Arbroath are a good side, many of whom have played together for a few seasons so they have a good understanding and work well together. You can see they enjoy playing for Dick Campbell and it was refreshing to see a manager take a young player (Hester) aside when he was substituted and have a few words with him. Ryan Wallace is one of these players you love to hate, but would really wish he was playing for your team. He makes space for himself and others, uses his body well by backing in to defenders and 9/10 he gets away with it. Fair play to him (apart from his dive when the keeper dived at his feet) especially when he unselfishly rolled the ball across for Denholm to make it 3-0..
As for us, I felt we were ok in the first half but the old problem of being unable to defend corners raised its head again (suspicion that O,Brien was levering himself over the defender) The second goal was excellent from Arbroath point of view with a sweeping move down the right but we were too slow to respond to the break. Second half we put Arbroath under more pressure but just couldn’t hit the target and pull a goal back. Feel we are really missing Kev Smith and Daryl Meggatt, but we really need points on the board next week at Montrose otherwise we are going to be rooted to the bottom. Our record in our last 16-20 games is really poor and would have seen many managers lose their job. Poor results can’t be allowed to go on much longer otherwise relegation could become a real possibility.

[flyfifer48]

Not a dig just asking Ryan  Wallace seems to have put on a lot of weight. I don't  think he will get much more wear out of his shorts. Has he been injured?

[farflung lichtie]

Not the most fluent Lichtie performance but a few flashes of class, all involving Wallace made the key breakthroughs (incredibly I heard fans near me moaning about Wallace and suggesting he be substituted). East Fife should have managed at least on the scoresheet but didn’t get any breaks. There was some frustration and unease in the away section when we seemed to passive after the break and Fife were on top. But though We were on the back foot for stretches of the second half but it was a professional showing. I wouldn’t raise any expectations based on this showing but a healthy result. E Fife look a bit short of confidence and maybe luck at present. I think the disallowed goal was the correct decision - the guy was about 5 yards offside. I actually this shows the officials in a positive light. Too often refs don’t review what’s happened so doing so (like VAR) can sometimes enable glaring errors to be rectified.

[Big lichtie]

at the moment it has to be wallace and mckenna no doubt mate. but with doris getting closer to fitness great choices to have who would you have? to me the lack of defensive cover is more of a problem

[1320Lichtie]

Not a dig just asking Ryan  Wallace seems to have put on a lot of weight. I don't  think he will get much more wear out of his shorts. Has he been injured?

I’m blaming the kit, it’s a skinny fit, he’s stocky like but in good nick

[keptie]

5 minutes ago, flyfifer48 said:

Not a dig just asking Ryan  Wallace seems to have put on a lot of weight. I don't  think he will get much more wear out of his shorts. Has he been injured?

No injury, it's just pure muscle he has put on.

Pretty comfortable win in the end we were on top bar a twenty minute spell after half time when we went to sleep but got away with it.

Could have fell asleep in the ground the atmosphere was so flat.

[WhoAmI]

5 minutes ago, keptie said:

No injury, it's just pure muscle he has put on.

Pretty comfortable win in the end we were on top bar a twenty minute spell after half time when we went to sleep but got away with it.

Could have fell asleep in the ground the atmosphere was so flat.

Sure it's not his wallet in his back pocket with all his signing on fees and selfie prints. Still have him in my team.

[Smokerson]

Pretty routine away win, decent enough performance without being at our best, clean sheet pleasing.

Swankie and Wallace the pick of the players on view for us. The 2nd and 3rd goals were brilliantly worked. Think McKenna would’ve had a field day today.

East Fife were actually ok, quite similar to Stranraer I thought. 

[smokie29]

First up well played Arbroath no sour grapes but where do these referees do their training .First up no flag gives goal 5 minutes later disallows goal never seen that in a game of football ever.Then 5 minutes later Arbroath centre half clearly holding down East Fife defender right in front of linesman goal. Add in lasts weeks dubiously debated 2nd penalty and their influence on the game is incredible. Thought we played well and 3 nil really floaters Arbroath but if you can’t take your chances you will be punished.Arbroath best team I’ve seen special mention to Ryan Wallace his diving is embarrassing no need for that as he is a quality player. I’m sure if we play like that a victory will come.

The lino clearly could not see if little touched the ball or not so had to get the referee’s opinion, that’s why it took so long

[lichtie1320]

f**k up all your bheast fhife fans, your “goal” was more offside than louis Suarez” teeth , 2-0 easy win GIRFUY, 36-0

[ecto]

Were not at our best today, but still better than East Fife, and anyway took my pensioner dad to the game today, 12 quid to get him in, concession my arse

 

[King Kebab]

As has been said can't grudge Arbroath their win but 0-3 really does flatter them, the game was a lot more even than that score line suggests!!!
The offside goal was a mystery, the Linesman didn't flag for it and the referee awarded it it was only after the Arbroath players moaned about it did the officials reverse their decision, I'm at a loss how both can see it as a goal and then both can see it as not a goal, if the referee had given it but the linesman had flagged or vice versa I can see where the decision can be changed but not when BOTH have already said it was ok, the standards of officiating are truly getting worse. Personally I thought that Court did run into an offside position but only after the final touch by the Arbroath player (Little???)!!!
We had slightly more of the game than Arbroath but did nothing with it, for all our attempts on goal we had only one on target and you're not going to win games with stats like that, I thought we dithered to long when making the final pass, there was more than one occasion when our wide players tried to beat the man again rather than get an early cross in, we could actually have had more chances than we actually did if their play was more direct!!!
Thought Arbroath's first was a foul but I think it would have went in anyway, Long sold the jersey's on that one, he seemed to come out for the cross then change his mind half way through and ended up doing nothing, the second came from the amount of space that Thomson was allowed down the wing, it happened more than once that Watt failed to drop back and cover with Slattery, leaving Slattery effectively marking two men for the entire first half and the third was basically a breakaway move but a very good move, looked very like a well rehearsed set piece, I would bet that that was a move that was worked on in training!!!

You can see from the star where our failings are, 12 attempts but only 1 on target, think everybody said at the start of the season we could struggle up front having to rely on the young guys without a recognised striker and it appears to be coming true, even playing three up front didn't improve our attempts, we need Kev back and fast!!!
So again well done Arbroath, you deserved it because you took your chances when they came to you it may have been a different story if our goal had stood but then again it may have just finished 1-3!!!
It's telling that there were no boo's at the end, think the crowd appreciated that it was never a 0-3 game but with only one point after 4 games DY's jacket must be looking even more shoogly!!!

[SimonLichtie]

13 minutes ago, Big lichtie said:

at the moment it has to be wallace and mckenna no doubt mate. but with doris getting closer to fitness great choices to have who would you have? to me the lack of defensive cover is more of a problem

Totally agree with you; but very surprised you've chosen Wallace after saying he's only played 1 good game for us in 20+ matches overall.

I thought today was a very professional performance overall, we definitely deserved the win however East Fife were unlucky not to get a goal and if the breaks had gone a wee bit differently we could have been struggling going into the last 20 minutes. Wallace and Boab both excellent, some nervous moments at the back and rode our luck a wee bit at times.

The weak spots for us at times seemed to be the centre of the park with Whatley spending a lot of time the wrong side of his man and a lot of breaks coming right through the centre circle and with Hammy under quite a bit of pressure on the left also.

I still maintain I'll be very disappointed if we don't make a challenge for the title, with the squad we have and the starting 11 we can put out I really believe we can make a very, very good go of it this year.

 

[1320Lichtie]

The weak spots for us at times seemed to be the centre of the park with Whatley spending a lot of time the wrong side of his man and a lot of breaks coming right through the centre circle and with Hammy under quite a bit of pressure on the left also.

 

Said this at the game, in fairness to Hammy Omar a bit ponderous getting back to help him.

[King Kebab]

Referee took time to consult his linesman and ultimately they come to the correct decision between them. Good officiating.

The lino clearly could not see if little touched the ball or not so had to get the referee’s opinion, that’s why it took so long

But that's not quite what happened, the Referee had awarded the goal and the linesman didn't flag and was running back to the halfway line, it was only after the moaning from the Arbroath players did they consult each other and then chalk off the goal, that is what pissed off the EF support, both saw nothing wrong with the goal initially but then both saw enough to cancel the decision, that is appalling officiating and smacks highly of guess work!!!

[1320Lichtie]

But that's not quite what happened, the Referee had awarded the goal and the linesman didn't flag and was running back to the halfway line, it was only after the moaning from the Arbroath players did they consult each other and then chalk off the goal, that is what pissed off the EF support, both saw nothing wrong with the goal initially but then both saw enough to cancel the decision, that is appalling officiating and smacks highly of guess work!!!

 

The ref would’ve just assumed that he was onside though? Whilst the Lino would’ve thought it touched an Arbroath player on its way through. When the lino says to the ref that he was offside, and the ref says to the lino that it never touched an Arbroath player.... they both obviously change their minds?

 

See that happen quite a bit.

 

Actually sure the opposite happened in the Germany Korea WC game.