Kevin Smith calls on East Fife to use hurt to motivate themselves

Smith’s first half goal looked to be enough as the Fifers went into the closing minutes of the game at the weekend.

But a quick fire double from Iain Davidson and Kevin Nisbet saw Raith snatch all three points.

The defeat, coupled by wins for Montrose and Airdrie, means Darren Young’s side hold just a three point lead over Mo with Airdrie a further one behind.

Mo and the Diamonds each have a game in hand over the Fifers (due to be played as we went to press), and East Fife will meet them over the course over the next two weekends.

But Smith says the side shouldn’t be wary of the games ahead and use Saturday’s loss as motivation to kick further clear of the chasing pack.

He said: “We need to take a look at ourselves after the Raith game and, while not getting over it too quickly, come Tuesday the gaffer will make sure we’ve forgotten about it.

“We’ll look at what we could have done better for next Saturday.

“Football is funny, you could be on a real downer one week and then a high the next.

“So if we put it right next weekend then all is forgotten.

“It (Raith defeat) can be motivation to get into the play-offs where East Fife haven’t been before.

“We’re working really hard behind the scenes to make sure that happens.

“We need to move on quickly to get into that play-off spot.”

The skipper was understandably frustrated that the Fifers couldn’t make it three wins from four Fife derbies this season at Bayview on Saturday.

He added: “The first half we did really well and were the better team.

“Raith came into it in the second half and obviously had a rollicking from John McGlynn at half-time.

“I still didn’t feel like they were going to score but started to create a couple of chances towards the end.

“But we only have ourselves to blame, we have to defend better.

“It’s disappointing, not just because it’s a derby, but because we want to be in the play-offs and we’ve made it a little bit difficult for ourselves.”