East Fife 1 - 5 Inverness CT

League - Ian Stewart hat-trick
Saturday, October 25th, 1997, 3:00 PM at Bayview Park, Methil
Attendance: 668
Referee: J Herald
East Fife Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Gibb (41) Duncan Shearer (4)
Iain Stewart (6)
Paul Cherry (32)
Iain Stewart (79)
Iain Stewart (81)

Team Managers
Unknown. Steve Paterson

Starting Eleven
McCulloch
Munro
Ryan
Trialist
Johnston
Gillies
Allan
Dixon
Dyer
Ronald,
Gibb
Les Fridge
Richard Hastings
Paul Cherry
Ross Tokely
Vetle Andersen
Mark McCulloch
Barry Wilson
Barry Robson
Iain Stewart
Brian Thomson
Duncan Shearer

Bench
Gartshore
Moffat
Fisher
Davie Ross
Marco De Barros
Wayne Addicoat

Substitutions
Moffat -> Gibb (65)
Fisher -> Dixon (71)
Davie Ross for Barry Robson (82)

Bookings
Gibb
McCulloch
Richard Hastings
Barry Robson

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Les Fridge (GK) 13 apps -
Paul Cherry 50 apps3 goals
Richard Hastings 99 apps2 goals
Ross Tokely 32 apps2 goals
Mark McCulloch 8 apps1 goal
Vetle Andersen 13 apps -
Barry Wilson 48 apps7 goals
Barry Robson 3 apps -
Duncan Shearer 6 apps2 goals
Iain Stewart 97 apps59 goals
Brian Thomson 63 apps21 goals
Davie Ross (sub) 86 apps9 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Ross Tokely (18 years 236 days)
Oldest Player:Barry Robson (1999 years 84 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 181 days
Domestic Players:9 (81.82 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Wayne Addicoat (18 years 135 days)
Oldest Player:Mark McCulloch (1999 years 84 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 195 days
Domestic Players:12 (85.71 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Paul Cherry played his 50th major competitive game for the Club.

The long wait for a league win ended with this defeat of high flying East Fife. The 5-1 score was a fair reflection of play and it could have been more. Shearer scored the first in 4 minutes when his a low drive from the edge of the box was deflected beyond McCulloch. Two minutes later a Thomson cross from the right was side footed into the net by Stewart. Captain for the day Paul Cherry made it 3 in 32 minutes when he headed home a Wilson corner. On the 41 minute mark the Fifers hit back. A defensive error let in Dixon on the right - he passed to Gibb who hit it past Fridge from 6 yards out. Two minutes later Fridge touched over a Dyer angled shot, a decisive save at an important time. East Fife came out fighting in the second half but could not break down a strong defence. In 48 minutes a clever 30 yard chip from Ryan went just over. They created few other chances and Fridge was rarely troubled. In 64 minutes the Inverness side should have scored another. Wilson outpaced the defence and passed inside to Stewart. He unselfishly slipped it to Robson who was facing the goal but his shot was blocked. In the 70th minute Shearer took a long Andersen pass, touched it past the onrushing keeper and sprinted to complete the job but he was outpaced by the Fifers trialist defender who managed to clear the danger. In 79 minutes the game was over. A suspiciously offside Stewart ran onto a long through ball which the keeper parried, however Stewart regained his balance, ran past McCulloch and stroked it into the empty net. Two minutes later Stewart completed his hat trick when he took a Wilson pass and slotted it past the keeper.

Match report written by Ian Broadfoot



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Livingston 10 6 3 1 17 10 7 21
2. Clydebank 10 4 5 1 12 6 6 17
3. East Fife 10 5 1 4 16 18 -2 16
4. Stranraer 10 4 3 3 17 12 5 15
5. Forfar Athletic 10 5 0 5 18 19 -1 15
6. Queen of the South 10 4 1 5 18 18 0 13
7. Stenhousemuir 10 4 1 5 15 19 -4 13
8. Clyde 10 3 3 4 12 14 -2 12
9. Brechin City 10 2 3 5 12 20 -8 9
10. Inverness CT 10 1 4 5 15 16 -1 7