Dick Campbell has hailed his ‘magnificent’ East Fife players after a remarkable 3-2 victory in the first-leg of their League One play-off final against Annan Athletic.
The Fifers seized the advantage in the tie after a dramatic 90 minutes at Bayview that had everything.
Annan finished with nine men after red cards for both Scott Hooper and Leyton Bisland, with Campbell himself being sent to the stand ‘for throwing my bunnet down’.
In the end, the second of Andy Munro’s double ten minutes from time was the crucial moment in a see-saw encounter.
The defender’s first-half strike following Alan Trouten’s fifth-minute opener had earlier been cancelled out by a Michael McKenna own goal and Aidan Smith’s header either side of the interval.
Campbell was thrilled with the way his League Two outfit fought back to gain the ascendancy against their visitors from the division above.
“It was a great game, it was a great advert for [League Two], with five goals,” he said.
“I thought in the first-half they were very, very fortunate to be only 2-1 down, when you see the chances we missed and how much we were in charge, possession-wise.
Campbell: ‘My players were magnificent’
“The goals we got were good and I was quite happy. I was looking to get the third goal.
“And then we lose a goal like McKenna’s. That was the only break that Annan were going to get in the first-half and they took advantage of it.
“In the second-half, they’ve scored a good goal.
“But, goodness me, East Fife came back with a rattle, didn’t they? In my opinion, my players were magnificent.”
Trouten poked in the opener from a suspiciously offside position before Munro nodded in the second from McKenna’s corner.
McKenna was unfortunate to scoop into his own net in the 43rd minute and then Smith headed in Ryan Muir’s excellent set-piece delivery.
Hooper saw red in the 72nd minute for a last-man foul on Fifers substitute Rob Jones and Munro fired into the roof of the net eight minutes later from another McKenna corner.
Moments later, Campbell was dismissed for two yellow cards just seconds apart.
And then, in the 87th minute, Bisland – who was only on for four minutes as a replacement – picked up a second booking to leave nine-man Annan holding out for Friday’s second-leg.
“I thought the referee turned it into a dirty game with bookings and sendings off,” added Campbell. “It wasn’t a dirty game.
Campbell: ‘We’ll have a go at them’
“And, of course, he sends me off – for throwing my bunnet down! I could not believe it. There’s no craic now. I throw my bunnet down when I’m talking to the wife!
“But then he tells me my feet are on the park. What? What’s all that about.
“How critical is that [third] goal? They’ve to score two to beat us – and we’ll be a difficult team to beat.
“We’ll go down there and we’ll have a go at them on Friday, I’ve absolutely no doubt about that.”
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