Fife derby will add some spice to Challenge Cup

The lower league competition used to be a sought after prize but over the past couple of seasons interest has started to wane.

But some extra fizz has been put into East Fife’s campaign with the club now looking forward to an October third round Fife derby tie against Raith Rovers following their 1-0 win at Peterhead on Saturday.

Winger Denholm got the game’s only goal, and is glad Fife fans have a match against their old rivals to pen into the calendar.

He said: "It was good to get the goal and it makes it all the better that we got the clean sheet as well.

"This cup doesn’t really capture the imagination of the supporters but the fact we have a derby now against Raith Rovers gives it an extra bit of spark.

"It’ll be a great occasion with the fans in and hopefully it’ll be a big crowd.”

East Fife did a job on the Blue Toon for the second time in as many weeks on Saturday.

Although the margin of the win was narrow, that tells only part of the story.

"To be honest it should be three or four nil at half time,” said the 31-year-old.

"I’ve missed another chance, Kieran Millar has missed one and Liam Watt too.

"In the second half I thought we started well again and had another few chances on the breakaway but then, in the last 15-20 minutes, it was waves of attacks. But it was manageable and Jude Smith has dealt with it really well.”