Peterhead 1-1 East Fife

It’s now been 10 games since Queen’s Park plundered all three points from Bayview after a 2-1 win, a run which has helped hoist the Fifers into the promotion play-off zone.

Current boss Barry Smith has yet to taste a league loss as the Methil manager but that record would have to stand a stern test at the home of Peterhead on Saturday afternoon.

Peterhead went into the game hovering above the relegation zone but just four points off their visitors who were in fourth.

It was the home side who started the better during what was a largely scrappy opening spell to the game.

But East Fife gradually got on top and created the best of what little chances there were in the first 45.

Chris Duggan had a clear sight of goal but was flagged offside with Mark Lamont’s free-kick testing Graeme Smith.

Ryan Goodfellow was called into action for the first time of the half after 41 minutes when he stood his ground to gather a fierce Scott Brown drive.

The game needed a bit of quality to kick start it and it arrived minutes into the second half.

A superb cross from James Penrice was inch perfect for Kevin Smith inside the six yard box who stooped to head home.

Smith’s opener sparked the hosts into life and they were unlucky not to pull level when Rory McAllister’s free-kick clipped the outside of the post.

But they didn’t have to wait long to restore parity.

Grant Anderson’s cross wasn’t dealt with by the East Fife defence and sub Jordan Brown took advantage, heading past Goodfellow.

Boss Smith, who takes his side to Alloa on Tuesday evening, said: “It’s a point that we probably would have taken at the start of the day because this is a difficult place to come.

“But the disappointment in the dressing room is that we were 1-0 up and should have defended properly.

“The confidence should still be high because it shows how far this team has come that we’re disappointed about going to a place like Peterhead and only getting a point.

“We now have to use that as motivation for the next game and that comes very quick.

“We have a couple of injuries which means we may be low on numbers come Tuesday.

“These boys just keep turning up and giving me everything that have.

“That was what I got again.

“Sometimes we know we can play a bit better but if you’re not playing well and you work hard then you give yourself a chance.”