Only two of the four Fife clubs’ matches in the SPFL went ahead at the weekend following a flurry of call-offs across the country.
East Fife’s League Two match at home to Stranraer was postponed on Saturday morning due to a frozen pitch.
It was a similar story for Dunfermline who saw their trip to Airdrie called off when it looked in the days leading up to the game that it would go ahead.
Raith Rovers and Kelty Hearts’ matches survived the cold snap when many other matches around them fell to the weather.
So, this week, Focus can be forgiven if it is heard scraping the barrel at all…
Highlight
Kelty’s highlights of their late comeback versus Queen of the South hadn’t been uploaded at the time of writing but it was undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend.
Nathan Austin has had a frustrating start to the season but for the second week in a row he gets a mention in this section.
After last week’s winning penalty, the striker came off the bench in Dumfries at half-time with his side 1-0 down.
He netted the equaliser with 10 minutes to go before Kallum Higginbotham’s penalty won it four minutes later.
Kelty manager John Potter told Kelty Hearts TV that he was pleased with his side’s first-half performance despite trailing at the break.
Honourable mention:
Andy McNeil’s double-save was the highlight of a rather drab draw between Raith and Arbroath.
It said a lot that for the second consecutive week he was voted man of the match by the Rovers support.
McNeil’s double-save:
Rovers manager Ian Murray said his side were “spooked” by Colin Hamilton’s equaliser.
Standout
Following on from the above section, what was even more impressive was that 21-year-old McNeil didn’t know he was playing until shortly before the match.
Jamie MacDonald has been carrying a shoulder injury and went down during the warm-up before pulling out.
With Robbie Thomson also out injured McNeil took to the field for his league debut – a week after his debut – knowing there was no backup keeper in the dugout.
Raith manager Ian Murray warned last week that if given a run of matches it is not uncommon for younger players to make mistakes, but that certainly wasn’t the case on Saturday.
It could have been a much worse afternoon for Rovers if it wasn’t for the keeper who had “two world-class saves”, according to Arbroath manager Dick Campbell.
Other talking points
- Connor O’Riordan’s loan deal expires soon and said Raith has been the ‘perfect’ loan move for him.
- Conceding from set-pieces continues to hinder Rovers’ season.
- Despite not playing it was still a good weekend for the Pars after second-place Edinburgh drew 2-2 at home to Montrose who sit fourth in League One.
What’s ahead this week?
Will there be more developments at Stark’s Park after Courier Sport exclusively revealed that the club is seeking fresh investment and could be sold?
Also, it’s Christmas and on its eve Kelty Hearts host Dunfermline in what is shaping up to be a cracking tie.
The fledgling derby will be ramped up an extra notch – in the way only a festive fixture can.
Kelty took their first point of the season the last time they hosted the Pars and gave as good as they got in their 2-1 defeat at East End.
Saturday also sees East Fife travel to top-of-the-table Dumbarton in League Two, a side which hasn’t lost in their eight matches since losing 6-0 to Stirling Albion.
They did drop points at Bonnyrigg at the weekend though.
On Friday, Raith host Morton again.
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