Carnoustie Panmure 1 Tayport 3
Straight from the kick-off, Carnoustie forced a corner on the right, but Reilly's cross was well held by Fitzpatrick at the near post.Early home pressure produced another two corners in quick succession before the ball was cleared upfield by ex-Gowfer Scott Hunter.
Reilly then chased after a long through ball, but was beaten to it by 'keeper Fitzpatrick, who handled the ball outside his box and a free kick was awarded to Carnoustie. Fitzpatrick received a yellow card for the offence and perhaps was a shade fortunate not to have seen red.
Tayport gradually began to come more into the game and a shot by Webster from the left-hand corner of the box was well saved by McCafferty.
The Gowfers had a bit of a let-off when McCafferty appeared to down Manzie on the edge of the home box, but the visitors' strong penalty claims went unheeded by the referee, whose decision was a goal kick to the homesters.
Back at the other end, Carnoustie came close to going ahead when A Reilly free kick picked out Urquhart, who headed just wide with Fitzpatrick nowhere near it.
Midway through the first half, Black got down the right for Tayport and fired in a good cross, which was touched over the bar by McCafferty. However, Manzie's flag kick from the left was cleared away by Smith without any danger to the home goal.
Tayport continued to press and took the lead in 29 minutes when a Webster cross from the left to the far corner of the six yard box was nodded down by Kenneth with the ball being turned home by MANZIE from close-in.
Carnoustie had an early chance to get back on level terms, but Masson's snap shot from 25 yards was too direct and straight at Fitzpatrick, who saved easily.
In 34 minutes, the Fifers were forced to make a change when O'Docherty picked up a leg knock and was replaced by McNaughton.
A minute later, Robertson was booked for a foul on Manzie. Webster took the resultant free kick and fired the ball through the defensive wall, but his shot was saved by McCafferty at the second attempt.
Carnoustie kept plugging away and again came close to equalising when a Reilly long-range effort from just outside the box narrowly missed Fitzpatrick's right-hand post.
Right on half-time, Tayport almost added a second when an Elvin cross from the right was met by substitute McNaughton, who headed just over from 10 yards.
Half Time : Carnoustie Panmure 0 Tayport 1
Shortly after the restart, Cumming was fouled by Black out on the Carnoustie right, but McIlravey's free kick was punched clear by Fitzpatrick.As in the opening period, the Gowfers were again doing most of the early pressing and in 56 minutes a Reilly drive from the edge of the box was blocked by Morris, who required treatment before continuing.
Tayport then lifted their game once more and won a corner when a Donnachie 25 yard effort was turned behind by McCafferty. Elvin's cross picked out Kenneth, whose header was touched over by McCafferty. The second corner in 64 minutes was again taken by Elvin and this time WEBSTER headed home from close-range to put the visitors two ahead.
Before play restarted, Hall and Masson were both booked for dissent.
The Fifers now went in search of further goals and almost added a third when Kenneth headed narrowly over from a Manzie corner on the right.
Carnoustie made their first change in 67 minutes, McIlravey going off to be replaced by Cook.
Still the Gowfers were unable to make any inroads into the deficit and a double substitution followed in 77 minutes with Beith and Clark taking over from Narey and Hall.
Two minutes later, Tayport replaced Manzie with Gray.
Carnoustie came close to pulling a goal back when Robertson headed narrowly over from a Masson corner.
Shortly afterwards, the Gowfers had yet another near miss when a Beith cross was only partially cleared by Morris and the ball dropped to Masson, whose overhead kick was only just too high.
Tayport made their third and final change in 85 minutes with Webster going off to be replaced by O'Connor.
The Gowfers' efforts were eventually rewarded on the 90 minute mark when substitute Cook played a pass through to CUMMING, who smashed the ball home from 15 yards, giving Fitzpatrick no chance.
However, straight from the centre, Tayport surged forward once more and from the edge of the box ELVIN fired low past McCafferty into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to restore the Fifers' two-goal advantage, killing off any hopes of a late Carnoustie fightback.
Match Report Courtesy Of Guide And Gazette Newspaper
| STARTING LINE-UPS | |
| 1. John McCafferty | 1. Frazer Fitzpatrick |
| 2. Steven Narey | 2. Barry Donnachie |
| 3. Daryn Smith | 4. David Black |
| 4. Robert Hendry | 6. Scott Hunter |
| 5. Scott Robertson | 7. Chris Webster |
| 6. Terry Masson | 9. Ronnie Kenneth |
| 7. Robert Urquhart | 11. Martin O'Docherty |
| 8. Euan Hall | 12. Roberto Morris |
| 9. Kevin Cumming | 15. Grant Manzie |
| 10. Andy Reilly | 17. Stefan Elvin |
| 11. Michael McIlravey | 18. Joe Pepper |
| SUBS : | SUBS : |
| 12. Steven Cook (Replaced McIlravey After 67 Minutes) | 8. Adam O'Connor (Replaced Webster After 85 Minutes) |
| 14. Brian Clark (Replaced Hall After 77 Minutes) | 13. Barry McNaughton (Replaced O'Docherty After 34 Minutes) |
| 15. Gavin Beith (Replaced Narey After 77 Minutes) | 15. Derek Wemyss (Sub Not Used) |
| Sub 'Keeper - Craig Jamieson (Sub Not Used) | 3. Grant Paterson (Sub Not Used) |
| 14. Darren Scott (Sub Not Used) | |
| GOALS | |
| CUMMING(90) | ELVIN(90), MANZIE(29), WEBSTER(64) |
| OFFICIALS & BOOKINGS | |
| Referee : G. Harris, Coupar Angus. | |
| HALL, MASSON | FITZPATRICK |
League Standings After Game
| Home | Away | |||||||||||||
| # |
Team
|
P | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
| 1 | Ballingry Rovers | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | +2 |
| 2 | Tayport | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | +3 |
| 3 | Arniston Rangers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | +2 |
| 4 | Penicuik Athletic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | +2 |
| 5 | Forfar West End | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | +1 |
| 6 | Kinnoull | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +1 |
| 7 | Fauldhouse United | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | -1 |
| 8 | St Andrews Utd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| 9 | Blairgowrie | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | -1 |
| 10 | Montrose Roselea | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -3 |
| 11 | Armadale Thistle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 12 | Carnoustie Panmure | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |