No meaningless matches just yet

Published: 02 Apr 2009 - 09:16:17

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The quest for a place in the top four and the reward of a place in the end of season play-offs is now effectively over, and the Fifers must now look over their shoulders and ensure the spectre of relegation is well and truly put to bed over the next couple of matches. There’s still the possibility, although it’s a very remote possibility, that the club could finish in second bottom place, which would mean having to take part in the play-offs to avoid relegation! East Fife currently occupy sixth place in the table on 40 points, eleven clear of second bottom Queen’s Park, but as long as its mathematically possible for the Methil men to be caught by three of the teams beneath them, they must avoid complacency over the next couple of matches. Victory over third-bottom Arbroath this weekend coupled with defeat for Queen’s Park would, however, almost certainly guarantee Second Division football at Bayview Stadium next season. Arbroath, of course, are deeply involved with Queen’s Park and Alloa Athletic in the battle to avoid the play-offs. The ‘Red-Lichties’ brought a run of five matches without a win to an impressive end last weekend with a single goal victory against promotion challengers Brechin City at Glebe Park. Arbroath will take confidence from this latest result, and will be keen to boost their survival chances against an East Fife side that they have yet to beat this season. Bayview Boss Dave Baikie, whilst conceding that hopes of finishing in the top four have all but disappeared, isn’t unduly worried about the possible threat of ending up in the play-offs at the wrong end of the table, and has urged his players to go out and enjoy the six remaining matches. On the injury front, Jon Smart and Greig McDonald both picked up injuries in Saturday’s clash with Stirling Albion and are added to the injury list along with Paul Nugent, who pulled a muscle at Forthbank. With long term injury victim Steve Crawford also unlikely to feature in this weekend’s match, the manager doesn’t have his problems to seek. Fringe player Guy Kerr, who has made just four appearances on the team sheet as an un-used substitute since joining the club from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in January, will be monitoring the situation with interest! On a positive note, Shaun Fagan should return to the squad on Saturday, after having recovered from a pulled hamstring. The quest to finish at the top of the East Fife goal-scoring table has taken an interesting turn of late, with Bobby Linn’s brace against Stranraer bringing him to within four goals of leader Paul McManus. Can Bobby close the gap even more this weekend? Why not come along and find out!