East Fife finish second after stunning St Johnstone but miss out on second round
Dick Campbell hailed his East Fife heroes – but bemoaned the Premier Sports Cup format after his side narrowly missed out on a round of 16 place despite enjoying an unbeaten group stage campaign.
The Scottish League One club managed to finish on nine points in group F, having beaten Greenock Morton and Linlithgow Rose while drawing against Inverness Caley Thistle and St Johnstone.
The latter result was East Fife’s final outing last Saturday, and that saw Campbell’s side get the better of the Scottish Premiership newcomers on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Perth to earn a bonus point.
Midfielder Sam Stanton thought he had stabbed home a late winner for the hosts but Jack Healy took advantage of an error to slam home a leveller four minutes after the injury-time opener.
And in the shootout, Rob Jones, Healy, David Wilson and Jaiden Fairley all scored for the visitors with stopper Derek Gaston making key saves against Stanton and Macauley Tait to earn the second point.
That handed East Fife second spot and nine points but a positive four goal difference wasn’t enough for the Bayview side to sneak through as one of the top-three runners up. They missed on one of those spots by just two goals.
Speaking after the match at McDermid Park, gaffer Campbell expressed his mixed emotions to East Fife TV.
“We’ve taken nine points from a possible 12 points, having taken on two Premiership clubs and a full-time club one division higher, and we are undefeated,” he said. “I am absolutely gutted for everyone at East Fife; the fans, the directors and more importantly, the players.
“They score the opener on 91 minutes from a mistake. Our young laddie (Jaiden Fairley) has made a mistake, but he has then stood up and taken a pressure penalty.
“I am just gutted that East Fife are not in the next round of this cup. We’ve taken nine points but haven’t qualified. That doesn’t seem right to me.”