Smokies Sent Packing... Eventually

29th Nov 2008: East Fife 2, Arbroath 0 (Tennents Scottish Cup)

At times, it wasnae very pretty; at times, it wasnae even very good but, at least we got back to winning ways this afternoon. And as far as confidence is concerned, that's all that matters. Having horsed the Smokies just a few weeks back, the team looked justifiably assured as they ran out just before three. For the fans in the stand, perhaps the greatest sight, however, was Jay Smart trotting out to take his place in the centre of the defence. For me, it was also grand tae see big Wullie back between the sticks.

Wi' that kind of line-up, ah'd already decided tae invest in a wee wager with my friends at Willie Hills. My tenner was gonna be turnin' intae a grand thanks to the fact that, for some strange reason, six-nil for the Fife was considered tae be 'any other score' so picked up the rather attractive odds of 100/1. Feeble minded oaf I hear you cry (ok, ah'm sure there urnae many folk who frequent Bayview who'd use that exact phrase, but you know what ah mean...) but there was method (nae, science) in ma madness. We beat them 3-2 a month ago wi' nine men. Two extra players the day so ah reckoned that would stop the Lichties scoring (and ah was right....); on the other side of the same coin, ah just surmised that ah'd multiply the three goals by two and... well, you know how sometimes ah get a bit excited...

So ah'll no' be visitin' the bookies shop on Monday ah guess. But ah wasnae tae know that as our heroes started their Scottish Cup campaign for the year. The ground staff had done their usual outstanding job and so, even though the temperatures were still well below zero, the pitch looked perfect. There'd be no excuses for either team today.

And as it turned out, we were treated tae a no' bad game of football. Well, that was if you were there as a neutral. For those of us with a bias (and, more importantly, money ridin' on it) it didnae quite pan out in the opening minutes the way we'd expected it to. End tae end fitba isnae usually on the cards when Arbraoth are playin'.

Lichties' gaffer, John McGlashan's, apparently learned something about football in the last month, however, because he sent out a team that looked far more composed and confident than the one that finished the last game. As it was, they created the first chance of the match, McCulloch having to be smart to collect the ball when it looked like they might have grabbed an early goal.

Undeterred however, we were soon rattling the ball forward and trying to create an opening for ourselves. Already the Boaby was bagging himself the man-of-the-match award, injecting loads of pace going forward. On the other side of the park, Deno was also creating merry hell in the Arbroath defence and was instrumental in our first real effort, setting up Fagan for a long range attempt that, sadly, rocketed over the Smokies' bar.

It was soon evident that Baikie had decided to allow both Linn and Shields the freedom to come and go as they pleased; the free range saw them switch sides throughout the first half and drag defenders all over the place. That should have created plenty of space for the Wonderhorse who was playing up front on his own but, despite some great runs by the big man, we were unable to break our visitors down. It didn't stop us trying, however, and we forced a number of corners, only to be thwarted by some last gasp defending by Raeside and his colleagues in the Arbroath back four.

With such sterling efforts at the back, confidence grew in their side and they were soon passing the ball themselves with some assurance. Given recent results and the battering to our self belief, it was perhaps unsurprising that we looked a bit shaky at times but, by and large, things were pretty even. With big Jay back in the team, our defence looked far more comfortable than in recent weeks and there were never really any times where you thought we were in any danger. That all changed, however, just a minute before the interval.

Andy Reilly picked up the ball in the middle of the park and pushed forward, before initiating a perfect one-two with Roddy Black. The move had left the entire Fife defence flat footed and even McCulloch appeared to be out of position and ill equipped to stop the Lichties' youngster from scoring. Reilly remained calm, picked his spot and... somehow contrived to miss an open goal, agonising as he saw the ball slide past the post. It was enough to demonstrate, however, that there was plenty of football still to be played in this game. Arbroath were certainly there for the taking but we'd be foolish to take them for granted.

But the gaffer and the boys knew that already and came out for the second forty five looking refreshed and with business on their minds. With darkness descending and the temperatures plummeting even further, the faithful in the stand needed something other than their half time Bovril tae keep them warm. And it didn't take long for the boys to deliver. Just five minutes in, Paul Stewart and the Craw combined well in the middle of the park and sent Deno through on goal, only for his shot to be blocked.

But our intent was clear and soon we were bombing forward at every opportunity, McGlashan's Maroons content for the moment at least tae sit back and try tae soak up the pressure. Big Sanny was still ploughing a lonely furrow up top but with Linn, Shields and Crawford all pushing forward, you knew (well, hoped...) it was only a matter of time before we made the breakthrough.

With twenty minutes to go, Templeman appeared finally to have earned his reward when he cleverly beat two Smokies defenders in the box, turned and poked a neat shot goalwards. But again the big forward's best efforts were thwarted by some desperate defending and he was denied a deserved goal when the ball was somehow cleared off the line. Shaking off his disappointment, mind, the big lad got stuck right back in and less than sixty seconds later he set up Crawford for his first goal in the black and goal.

After breaking down a rare Arbroath attack we quickly headed upfield. Torro slid a great pass (pretty much the only one of the afternoon; his defending was brilliant today but his distribution was fuckin' woeful at times...) out of defence to Templeman and the big man sprang forward (didnae know he had that kind of pace...) with Linn and Crawford in swift pursuit. Temps' flawless pass found Stevie in bags of space and two paces and one touch later the ball was in the back of the net.

The delight on his face was a sight to behold as he ran towards the jubilant fans in the stand. And that rapture was shared by every one of his team mates as they made their way down to the corner of the pitch to join the celebrations. It was an absolute peach of a goal and he put it away with aplomb (geddit??). Crawford's contribution to the team has been outstanding already; now that he's banged in his first goal, you get the feeling that there could be a good few more in his locker.

And that should probably have been the signal for the Fife to relax and start to play the controlled passing football that we know we're capable of. Ah wouldn't say that we looked jittery following the goal but there was a nervousness that ah've not often witnessed. Instead of pressing forward for the killer second goal, we tended to hold play up a bit and started to sit back a wee bit too far for my liking. Taking their cue, Arbroath knuckled down and started to create a bit more possession that they'd previously been able to.

Just moments after the Craw's goal they won a corner and the resulting kick caused all sorts of bother in the Fife box before Torro eventually got a boot to it and cleared the danger. We had a few more scary moments in the next ten minutes or so with Smartie really earning his corn in his first game back. If he'd thought he'd have an easy game to get back into the swing of things, he was to be disappointed. But fair play tae the big central defender - at times today it was like he'd never been away. He's no' always the most graceful of footballers (no' many defenders are, ah'll grant you) but when you're up against it, there aren't many that you'd rather have than big Jay!

And with Fozzie, Dougie C and Torro also in grand form, the back four successfully repelled everything that the Lichties threw at us. At the other end too, we were starting to look more accomplished. With about five minutes remaining, Cameron fired over a great cross from a free kick just outside the box, the resultant panic in the Arbroath penalty box looked more like something you'd see on the Discovery Channel when a pack of hungry carnivores takes a fancy to a tasty looking morsel in the middle of the herd. But, somehow, they managed to clear their lions and the danger passed.

They weren't going to keep us out forever but, in the meantime, they pushed forward in a desperate attempt to grab an equaliser. With less than a minute remaining though, we put the icing on the cake. The Fozzmeister craftily broke up another Smokies' attack, dragged the ball to the edge of the box and slipped through a neat pass to the Boaby. With nine Arbroath players still backtracking from our box, Linn powered forward, Craig O'Reilly smart enough to get off his marks and make a move for himself.

Committing the solitary defender to the tackle, Linn delivered a gilt-edged pass into the path of the young striker and, from the edge of the box, Craig powered a fabulous shot high into the net, leaving the hapless Arbroath keeper stranded and looking foolish. Another beezer of a goal and great that it fell to O'Reilly - the young man doesnae get many chances, usually coming on as a late subbie, so it was grand to see that he had the confidence tae finish with such composure.

And that was that. Before the crowd had stopped cheering the ref brought proceedings to an end and our heroes had successfully negotiated the third round of the cup. More importantly, it was grand just tae get back tae winning ways again; with Tweedie and Shagger due back next week it's starting to look like the recent injury woes will now be behind us. It's back tae league business next week and, following their creditable draw at the Linos this afternoon, Alloa promise to be another stern test for the boys.

But with confidence back on a high and a full squad to choose from, we've got to believe that we can get the league campaign back on track. It's back at Bayview again so let's get out in numbers and cheer on the DB and the boys!