Fife Show Their Class... Eventually

26th Jul 2008: Brechin City 0, East Fife 1 (ALBA Challenge Cup)

A solitary goal from Chris Templeman was enough to separate the sides this afternoon. It was fitting indeed that it was the Wonderhorse who grabbed the winner; until he came on we'd huffed and puffed and all worked hard but, despite creating a couple of chances and certainly riding our luck at the other end, the simple fact was that, up until then, we'd been about as much use as a button on a sock!

Ah managed tae grab a word wi' the great Augusto-Fifer at the end of the match but it appears that he was watchin' the game with one eye closed. All in all, he thought that we were streets ahead of our hosts and easily good enough value for the victory, the Fife created all the chances and Brechin weren't really up tae much at all. Well, apart fae us lookin' like bairns in the first half, them skelpin' the bar and then forcing Wullie Mac intae three or four outstandin' saves, ah suppose we were in complete control...ish.

Mind, ah don't suppose that the Fife fans who'd made the trip to Tayside would have been caring that much - after all, a win's a win. As we all got accustomed to last season, the black and gold contingent once again well outnumbered the home support. The best part of three hundred of us were there to cheer on the boys in the bright, warm conditions. In fact, the chilliest part of the whole afternoon for me was walkin' round a corner in the middle (which is also the outskirts) of Brechin and literally falling into the flotsam and jetsam that was piling off the supporters' bus. Scary...

There's nothing more disconcerning than someone that you most certainly know staggering up to you, unrecognising, breathing beery fumes over you and demanding, 'Ur yoo a Brechin supporta, where can we get hot food?'. But, after that initial fright, it went no' too bad an' ah still made the ground in one piece - just hope Cazza got her chips!

Anyhoo, ah took ma place at the end of the pitch, the players ran out to a warm reception and everything was ready for the long-awaited start to competitive fitba - fuck Euro 2008 and the Twenty20 cricket; this is what it's all about and it's been a long time coming.... The coin was flipped, the captains shook hands and the teams changed ends - fuck! So here's my choice - wander casually up one side of the pitch, much to the ire of the Brechin staff and directors, or wander, as invisibly as possible, along the other side, havin' the pish ripped out of me by all the Fife fans. I settled down and prepared to take some pictures of our defenders' arses.

In the end it turned oot no' tae be a bad decision. In the opening forty five we put in plenty of effort but the team just didnae seem tae gel. Brechin certainly didn't look like world champions either but settled a bit quicker and not only spent more time in our half than in their own, but also appeared to be able to make more fruitful use of the possession they had. That said, mind, they were caught offside on a number of occasions so you pay yer money and take yer choice - either they were timing their runs poorly or we were timing our defence perfectly... hard to say from where ah was.

We slowly dragged ourselves into the match but appeared to lack any real imagination - Craig O'Reilly continually tried to get up for McCulloch's punts upfield but, just as consistently, was a split second behind the Brechin defender marking him. In truth, the best of the action in that first half didn't even happen on the pitch. Brechin had hammered a clearance high, wide and no' so handsome, only to see the ball disappear intae the uncovered Gents lavvy at the side of the pitch.

As the ballboys tried their hardest to no' be the first one tae the bogs and twenty two players telepathically agreed tae 'play the ba' on the ground', it suddenly came firing out of the bog like an exocet and intae suburban Brechin. While some wee lad was findin' and unexpected and rather unpleasant 'present' in his back garden, everyone in Glebe Park strained their eyes on the entrance of the loo, waiting with baited breath for the emergance of some poor bastard wi' pish stains doon his troosers..! Sadly, just when it looked like he'd have tae come oot and face the music, all eyes returned tae the pitch.

Just five minutes from the break we were nearly undone. We'd been forced deep and were finding it difficult to clear our lines, the best we could muster being a desperate clearance to the edge of the box. The ball fell neatly for the Reds' skipper, Darren Smith, who connected perfectly and must have thought he'd opened the scoring. With McCulloch well beaten, he was dismayed to see the ball rattle off the crossbar and then hoofed up the park. It was as near as they'd come in the whole game but an omen for us, surely, that we'll have to remember that we're likely to see far better opposition this term than we did last season.

It's apparent that Dave Baikie's lost none of his half time charm because the team that came out after the break all had that customary 'ah've had a good boot up the arse' look about them. And, as per usual, DB's medicine did the trick. Just moments after the restart both Crawford and the Boaby came close; already we looked a whole lot sharper. It was just as well because only seconds later we were called into some desperate defending at the other end when Wullie pulled off an outstanding save after a Brechin effort deflected off Jay and looked to all like it was sneaking into the top corner.

It was a great bit of football all round and the Brechin fans would certainly have been buoyed by the attempt. Sadly though, they were both still on their way back from the pie stall and missed all the action. Which was a shame, really, cos that's as good as it got for the homeside. We slowly built up the tempo and made some decent passes. However, everything really fell into place just past the hour mark when the gaffer decided to give the Wonderhorse a gallop.

He made an immediate impact as we now finally started winning some headers. His bullying of the Brechin defence meant they had to stay deeper and that allowed Crawford and Linn far more room in and about the Reds' penalty area. This also gave the midfield some respite so it was hardly surprising that Fozzie and Lloyd were able to find more time on the ball. It only took about five minutes for Templeman's entrance into the fray to become decisive.

We'd made some space, pushing up the left but rather than firing a cross into the mess of the area, the ball was worked back to the Fozzmeister in the middle of the park. From about twenty five yards our he leathered a beautiful low drive that was just about stopped by the keeper (it was actually a crackin' save) but only parried into the path of Templeman. With what appeared all the time in the world (the Brechin defenders were still in awe of Fozzie's initial effort), Chris made it look easy and slid the ball home from just a couple of feet out.

Outstandin' stuff, no less than he deserved and proof positive, if we ever needed it, that Baikie's got yet another outstanding striking option at his disposal.

If the goal didn't knock the stuffing out of the Hedgemen, then they were well and truly fucked just ten minutes later. We'd continued piling on the pressure with Bobby Linn and Stevie Crawford now running at the Reds at will. From one attack, Linn had picked up the ball just inside the Brechin half and was running purposefully towards their area. Debutant, Ian Nimmo, tried to get a foot in but the Boaby was already past, the resulting tackle looking clumsy, mis-timed and amateur. Linn took a sore one and the ref had no hesitation in reaching for his top pocket and shoving a red card up Nimmo's nose.

It was a tough one for the Brechin lad, certainly no question that it was a booking but there appeared little cynicism in the tackle; Nimmo just wasn't good enough to stop the Boaby, made an honest attempt for the ball and was made to look foolish by the outcome. The red card just put the tin lid on his ignominy. Off he marched, leaving his colleagues' heads down and the two home fans arguing together. Hmmm, guess the game's only gonna be going one way now...

And so it turned out. The ten Brechin men did their best but the last few minutes just gave the Fife an opportunity to rest Linn and Stanic (don't know if the midfield is his best position; remains to be seen) and give Paul Stewart and Rob Cambell a wee run. Templeman kept up his good work and, despite getting less than half an hour, did more than enough tae win the man of the match plaudits. Ah was talkin' tae two Arabs at Dundee station later who'd been at the Barca game and they tell me that Lionel Messi only got the second half but was their man of the match. Three goals or not, ah bet ye he didnae do as much as big Chris this afternoon - he was fuckin' immense!

All in all it was a great result and certainly we deserved it on the balance of play. There were some negatives in the early part of the game but what was encouraging for me was the fact that DB was able to make the changes we needed to change the game around. The inclusion of Templeman was a masterstroke.

And that leaves us looking forward to the next round of the Challenge Cup (at least we can't draw Brechin again....) and confidence ahead of next week's league flag celebrations and our first home game of the new season. I notice that Peterhead stuck six past Montrose today so I guess that we're guaranteed a tough game. That said, mind, if we get a big crowd intae Bayview, ah'd rate us against anybody - even that mob that Messi plays for!