Questions raised over East Fife cup tie

They had been paired barely a few minutes when already questions were being raised about East Fife's Irn-Bru Cup quarter final against Dublin side Bohemians.
East Fife's Jonny Court and Scott Linton (right) following the Irn Bru Cup quarter final draw. Picture by SNS.East Fife's Jonny Court and Scott Linton (right) following the Irn Bru Cup quarter final draw. Picture by SNS.
East Fife's Jonny Court and Scott Linton (right) following the Irn Bru Cup quarter final draw. Picture by SNS.

East Fife reached the latter stages of the domestic cup competition thanks to victory against Queen of the South, but the next round has thrown up a tricky situation for trophy organisers.

Bohemians, a League of Ireland side, are due to finish their domestic campaign on October 26 - weeks before the scheduled cup tie with the Fifers on November 17.

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This means several out of contract players will have already left the club and others on longer deals will have started a pre-season break.

Bohemians Tweeted before the draw was made that they would ask cup organisers to pull the tie forward regardless of who they drew.

A statement read: “The club will be requesting to bring the tie forward from the scheduled quarter-final weekend of November 17/18 to be closer to the end of our league season which finishes at home to Dundalk on Friday October 26.”

But this would mean East Fife giving up one of its scheduled league ties in that short period, with a home fixture against Kingdom rivals Raith Rovers due to be played on November 10.

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The Bayview club advised fans to wait before booking travel or accommodation.

An online statement read: “Supporters are advised to delay making travel arrangements until the date and time of the Quarter Final tie at Bohemians has been confirmed”

It’s believed discussions between all the relevant bodies are continuing and Fife Today will update fans when we are given further news ourselves.