East Fife’s winless run v Alloa extended to five games but Stuart Malcolm happy with point on road
East Fife’s ongoing winless run against Alloa Athletic was extended to five games by a 1-1 draw on the road on Saturday but first-team coach Stuart Malcolm reckons that fourth stalemate on the bounce to be a point gained rather than two lost.
Luke Rankin put Alloa ahead with a poke past visiting No 1 Ruairidh Adams on 56 minutes but the visitors equalised from the penalty spot beyond home goalkeeper Liam McFarlane just four minutes later, that spot-kick, taken by Michael McKenna, being awarded by referee Euan Anderson for a foul on Jess Norey by Cameron O’Donnell.
The Fifers managed eight shots to their Clackmannanshire hosts’ four, with four on target, twice as many as Alloa, but Malcolm conceded that there hadn’t been too much in it, with a point apiece being a fair enough return.
“Any away point’s a positive point,” the 46-year-old, a defender for Alloa for part of the 2006-07 football season, told East Fife TV afterwards.
“I thought we were probably slightly better. However, there were no huge clear-cut chances either way in the game.
“I think we shaded it but without making any definite, defined chances.
“We got in great areas. There was plenty of goalmouth action, especially in the second half in the box, but we maybe scuppered each other in terms of getting in the way of each other for a finish.
“We still looked like we carried a real threat, maybe in the first half not so much, but in the second half we definitely looked like we could maybe have nicked a goal, without it being clear-cut, maybe more scrappy,
“It wasn’t to be but we’re delighted with a point. We’re slightly disappointed maybe that we didn’t take all three.
“The performance from the guys, in my opinion, was excellent. I thought our application, our will to work for each other and the shape of our team were particularly good.
“It’s just bursting out of them that they want to work hard and they want to do well.”
Next up for manager Dick Campbell’s Methil side is a derby away to Kelty Hearts this coming Saturday, with kick-off at New Central Park at 3pm, and they’ll be hoping for their third win of the year against their fellow Fifers, having beaten them 2-1 at home in August and 1-0 away the month before.
They go into that away-day, with ten games played, sitting sixth in the table on 15 points, a point and two places behind Alloa but eight points and three places better off than their next hosts.
Malcolm isn’t reading anything into the two teams’ relative places in the table or their recent results, however, warning: “Just because we’ve taken points off them previously doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case next week.”