East Fife 1 Cowdenbeath 0: Naysmith hails new signing

East Fife boss Gary Naysmith hailed the impact of debutant Kieran MacDonald as the former Hamilton man helped the Bayview side to a 1-0 Fife Cup win over Cowdenbeath.

MacDonald signed for the Fifers last week and was handed his first start in the kingdom cup tie.

Naysmith said it was a debut he could be proud of.

“You could see he has a great left foot,” said the Bayview chief.

“He has it in his game to slow it down, make the defender move and then take off.

“The lads can see that when he gets the chance he puts in good crosses and doesn’t try to beat his man again,” he added.

“If someone gives him a chance he’ll just touch it and put the ball in.”

East Fife’s winner came on the stroke of half-time when Cowden goalkeeper Shaun Hunter came off his line to catch a Fraser Mullen corner but made a hash of it.

The loose ball broke a couple of yards from goal, and Kevin Smith nodded home.