East Fife 2-2 Montrose

Darren Young's men held a two goal lead during the first half but ended up being pegged back by Mo.

In truth a point each was probably a fair outcome.

Both sides had suffered identical 3-1 defeats in their opening league fixture so went into Saturday's game determined to kick start their campaigns.

The visitors started well and Paul Watson should have done better from close range after just four minutes.

They stayed on the front foot with East Fife lucky to escape a penalty claim when Graham Webster went down inside the box under pressure from Pat Slattery.

But they survived it and the incident seemed to kick the hosts up a gear.

Slattery went close before the Fifers grabbed the lead in some style on 25 minutes.

Jack Hamilton picked up the ball on the edge of the Montrose box and lashed an unstoppable drive beyond Aaron Lennox.

The goal gave East Fife a visible boost and it didn't take them long to add to their lead.

Kevin Smith raced clear in on the Montrose goal and sent a delightful chip over Lennox and into the back of the Montrose goal.

The 2-0 scoreline was perhaps tough on the visitors but they refused to feel sorry for themselves.

It was 2-1 before the break when a swift move down the East Fife wing resulted in Craig Johnston's cross being turned in from close range by Lewis Milne.

The goal, just a few minutes before the break, came at a great time for Montrose and put a spring in their step for the second half.

East Fife were battling away and needed a third goal to provide some breathing space.

It never came and they were made to pay for it when Montrose pulled level.

Craig Watson was penalised for a foul on Cammy Ballantyne inside the East Fife box with ref David Lowe pointing straight at the spot.

The decision looked harsh on the Fifers but Webster showed no mercy and slammed his spot kick beyond Brett Long.

Both sides had great chances to win the game, Hamilton hitting the bar for the home side and Ross Campbell unlucky from close range for Montrose.

Darren Young, who has now seen three penalties given against his side in the past three games, reckons decisions again went against his side.

He said: "We're back to talking about referees and penalty kicks which I don't want to be doing but that's three weeks in a row now.

"I've spoken to one or two of their players and they say it was very soft.

"Craig Watson has went over to their guy and just stood and then he's gone down.

"I'll watch it back on the video but if it's another mistake then we can't control that.

"But, at the same time, at 2-1 we had one or two chances to get to 3-1 but couldn't find that killer pass and they also clear one off the line."