East Fife 1-1 Dundee Utd

Following on from Tuesday night's 1-0 win over Albion Rovers, the arrival of Championship side Dundee United signified a definite step up for the Methil men.

It was a challenge they met.

United arrived at Bayview with a full squad, boss Robbie Neilson swapping his entire starting XI at the break.

The Tannadice men looked fresh throughout the game, but they came up against an East Fife side who look to be really growing into their pre-season.

They took the lead shortly before the 20 minute mark when Scott Agnew's corner kick was bundled past his own 'keeper by Liam Smith.

Chris Duggan had put pressure on Smith to force the mistake and almost grabbed the game's second goal when he cut inside the United box and fired a shot goalward which was held.

United improved and, to be honest, probably had the better of the rest of the game.

But for all their pressure they struggled to break down a well drilled East Fife resistance.

The central defensive pairing of Chris Higgins and Ross Dunlop in particular looks to be developing further with each passing game.

United managed to get the goal their play deserved, though, with Louis Appere and Nicky Clark working well together inside the Fife box.

A gap opened up for Appere to take a shot but he was unselfish and squared for his strike partner to easily find the net.

Both sides had chances to record the win, the best East Fife had falling to Kevin Smith but he dragged his shot wide.

Fife assistant Tony McMinn said: "The main thing was that the boys got more minutes into them.

"The ones who only got half an hour will get more of a chance on Tuesday.

"You can start to see the team now gelling together and we had some good passages of play."