East Fife’s Scottish League One campaign got off to the worst possible start as they crashed to a 4-1 defeat away to fellow newly-promoted side Peterhead.
Livingston loanee Lewis Latona scored to put the Fifers ahead at Balmoor last Saturday after 20 minutes but that joy was short-lived with the Blue Toon battling back to eventually blow away Dick Campbell’s team.
Alan Trouten capitalised on a poor pass, feeding the back across for Latona to have the easy job of finding the back of an empty net with goalkeeper Jack Newman stranded.
East Fife’s lead however only lasted a few minutes with David Wilson grabbing his first Peterhead goal when he headed home at the back post.
Nathan Austin on the ball for East Fife against Peterhead (Photo: Kenny Mackay)placeholder image
Nathan Austin on the ball for East Fife against Peterhead (Photo: Kenny Mackay)
The hosts then went ahead after 26 minutes when Mamadou Bah was adjudged to have tripped Max Barry in the box. Kieran Shanks then found the bottom corner from the penalty spot.
Things got even worse for East Fife just before the break when home captain Jason Brown headed home from a corner kick.
In the second half, Peterhead found the back of the net again with two minutes remaining to put a gloss on their victory. Centre-half Brown grabbed an unlikely second, slotting home thanks to great work from substitute Oliver Colloty.
And East Fife assistant boss Ian Campbell admitted that his side were “scandalous” in the way that they crumbled after taking an early lead.
Livingston loanee Lewis Latona grabbed East Fife's opener against Peterhead (Photo: Kenny Mackay)placeholder image
Livingston loanee Lewis Latona grabbed East Fife's opener against Peterhead (Photo: Kenny Mackay)
"We scored a goal and then missed two unbelievable chances, the game should have been finished at 3-0,” Campbell told East Fife TV.
"And then it was scandalous. I was thinking ‘we are fine here, getting to where we want to be’ but in the space of ten-odd minutes we’ve lost three goals. Defensively we were poor – and that’s an understatement.
“Second half we were on top but didn’t create any chances. That was a poor performance and certain parts of the game were unacceptable. We still have ambitions and all is not lost but we have to identify what went so wrong.”
East Fife now host Alloa Athletic this Saturday afternoon at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium.
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