East Fife top of League Two table after Jess Norey nets late winner against Elgin City

Jess Norey’s 97th-minute winner sealed the three points at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium on Saturday to send the Fifers one point ahead of the visitors.

Dick Campbell’s side got off to a flyer when Reis Peggie slammed home after 14 minutes, but the lead was short lived with Mark Gallagher being afforded too much room to pick his spot outside the box just before the half hour mark.

And in the second half, despite not looking to like they were going to nick a winner, Norey prodded home his second goal in as many weeks in injury-time after Peggie’s free-kick caused chaos in the box after crashing off the bar.

Speaking to East Fife TV, assistant manager Ian Campbell hailed his side for their “fighting spirit”.

He said: “The game was wasted with a lot of bad fouls from both teams. Momentum was killed really. We played well in the first half and scored a good goal. They scored a good goal too.

“In fairness to them, Elgin are a good side and you can see why they are doing well. In the second half, the game was characterised by bad fouls and stoppages.

“That took the sting out of the game. But I have to praise our fighting spirit – everyone knows where we are as a team at the moment.

“The boys were terrific. It was a hard battle but it was hard battle that we won. Sometimes in a league campaign, that can work for you, and we just about came out deserved winners but there wasn’t much in it.”

The table-topping Fifers now travel to third-placed Peterhead this Saturday afternoon as the big games keep on coming in the fourth tier.

Ahead of that clash, Campbell added: “We know what we need to do (as a group). If we get back to the levels we know we can play at – then we will be fine and do okay.

“We have a lot to build on. We have some hard games coming up. We have players coming back from injury and we have other players to bring in. We’ll get on with it.”

Saturday’s match at Balmoor against the Blue Toon kicks-off at 3pm.