Ayr United 1 East Fife 1: Fifers fortunate to come away with a point

East Fife settled for a share of the points at the weekend after returning from Ayr with a 1-1 draw.

Bayview boss John Robertson admitted the real winners had been Airdrie United, who recorded a 4-2 win over Peterhead to sit three points ahead of East Fife.

Lining up against Ayr for the second time in a week, the Fifers opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Matthew Park headed home a Bobby Linn corner from six yards out.

But only eight minutes later and Ayr had equalised thanks to Alan Trouten.

Drama was to come in the closing minutes of the first half as John Ovenstone brought down Mark Roberts and the home side was awarded a penalty.

But East Fife keeper Michael Brown stepped up to save Roberts’ attempt from the spot his second in two successive games against Ayr.

The draw left home boss Brian Reid ruing missed chances of victory.

“At least we stopped the rot after three defeats, but on another day we could have won 4-1 with the chances we created,” he said.

East Fife’s John Robertson said there was a resolution about his side now and that his players were fighting hard.