East Fife 1-0 Forfar Athletic

Aaron Dunsmore breaks into the Forfar box. Pic by Kenny Mackay.

Ten games have now passed this season and the Fifers have yet to fall to defeat - the only team in Scotland that can boast such a record.

But they had to work to maintain it at Bayview on Saturday with Forfar probably unlucky not to take something on the balance of play.

They arrived in Methil not having enjoyed quite the start some would have expected them to make, but there was never any doubt that they'd pose a tough test regardless.

That's how it turned out with East Fife having to grind out the win in the second 45.

It may not have been pretty on the eye, but it was effective and did the job.

It looked as if the Fifers would be in for a much more comfortable afternoon when they took the lead after just eight minutes, Steven Boyd scoring his first goal for the club from a Ryan Wallace delivery.

They failed to build on the opener, though, and Forfar responded well.

Jordan Kirkpatrick broke down the Fife right wing and managed to get a shot away that Jordan Hart held comfortably.

At the other end East Fife had chances of their own to pull level, the best falling to Wallace but he couldn't find a way past Marc McCallum.

Forfar improved after the interval and created enough chances to haul themselves level.

The best fell the way of Kirkpatrick when he beat the Fife offside trap and got in behind the defence.

He was able to see the whites of Hart's eyes and should have done better from close range.

The keeper, though, managed to get off his line quickly to block.

It wasn't quite backs to the wall stuff for the hosts who looked dangerous on the counter.

Aaron Dunsmore had a chance to seal the win but he dragged his shot wide of Marc McCallum's post.

It didn't matter, though, because the Methil men held on for a win which saw them join Raith at the top of League One on 20 points ahead of Saturday's game at Stark's Park.

Boss Darren Young said: "We’ll go there full of confidence from the way we’ve been playing and how we played against them earlier in the season.

“We’ve had a really good support with us there last season and were able to reward them so we’re delighted with that."