East Fife defender Jonathan Page glad to get off mark third time round

East Fife defender Jonathan Page says he’s not only delighted to have scored his first goal since returning to Methil’s Bayview Stadium in January but also relieved as he reckons he was at fault for allowing Stranraer to get in front on Saturday so he was glad of that 86th-minute chance to make amends.

Jonathan Page talking to East Fife TV after Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stranraer (Pic: East Fife TV)

The Hampshire-born 33-year-old – previously at East Fife from 2015 to 2018 after a loan spell here from 2014 to 2015 while at Dunfermline Athletic, scoring nine goals altogether – is also happy to have helped manager Greig McDonald’s team pick up their first point of the new Scottish league Two season.

“It’s good to get off the mark and to take a point from a game that didn’t really look like one we’d take a point from towards the end is obviously a positive, so I’m pleased about that,” he told East Fife TV after the weekend’s 1-1 draw against a Blues side reduced to ten men nine minutes in.

“I think I was probably to blame for the first goal, so, on a personal note, it probably balanced it out a wee bit.

“It’s a point away from home and it’s a difficult place to come.”

Though impressed by the staunchness of their hosts’ defence after going a man down following Craig Ross’s red card for a foul on Nathan Austin, Page conceded that his team shouldn’t have taken so long to get on the scoresheet.

“I thought they were excellent. It’s no secret that teams that go down to ten men very early on in games often do defend very well,” said the ex-Motherwell man.

“They were difficult to break down but we should have done better.

“Our quality all over the park, passing and stuff, wasn’t tidy enough and that didn’t help, but given that it was 80-odd minutes we were a man up, we know ourselves that we should have done better.

“Sometimes you just need to hold your hands up and say that you’re not playing at your best, so perhaps taking a point isn’t the end of the world.”

Next up for East Fife in the league is a visit from Stenhousemuir this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.

Stenny are currently three places in the table and one point better off than McDonald’s men following a 0-0 draw at Peterhead at the weekend.