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In what was to be a comfortable victory for the Pars, Davie Hay set out his team in a 4-4-2 formation. The same starting eleven that drew with Clyde a week earlier took to the field against Jim Moffat's third division side.
The Pars were in control straight from the get-go with Barry Nicholson going close with a shot from the edge of the box as early as five minutes in. NICHOLSON was to get his goal shortly after however when he made the most of a penalty box mix-up to finish from two yards out.
Any thoughts that East Fife would attempt to stage a comeback seemed misguided especially twenty minutes in Billy MEHMET collected the ball on the edge of the penalty box and fired a shot past the helpless East Fife keeper to give the Pars a two-goal lead.
With the home side's defence looking uneasy under wave-after-wave of attack, it only seemed a matter of time before the East Fife keeper would be picking the ball out of the net once more. This he had to do in the 29th minute when Greg SHIELDS drove an unstoppable half-volley into the net from twenty yards out.
It seemed to be a question of "how many?" at this stage and five minutes before half-time Gary DEMPSEY made it 4-0 to the Pars. Noel Hunt had shown excellent skill down the right hand side before bringing out a good save from the keeper, only for Dempsey to hammer in the rebound from twelve yards out.
With the game over as a contest, the second-half was for the most part a non-event. The Pars attack continued to press the East Fife defence with Barry Nicholson and Gary Dempsey headers bringing out top-class saves from the keeper.
Noel Hunt's hard work - over the course of the match - looked to have payed off in the 68th minute when he was sent through one-on-one with the East Fife keeper. Just as Hunty was about to shoot, his legs were taken away from him in a cynical challenge from an East Fife defender. With no hesitation the ref pointed to the spot. Gary DEMPSEY made no mistake in firing the spot-kick into the back of the net to make it 5-0.
Despite the odd Pars attack, the home side's keeper was never really threatened again before the game petered out to a finish.
With an emphatic win under their belt, the Pars squad will no doubt now travel to Hollland with a great degree of confidence.
PARS - Stillie 7, Shields 8, Wilson 7, Dempsey 9, Skerla 7, Thomson 6, (Donnelly 75) 6, Nicholson 8, Mason 6, Hunt 8, Mehmet 9, Byrne 6, (Campbell 68) 7.
SUBS NOT USED - Langfield, Lyle, Greenhill, Kaye, Hunter.
Man of the Match - GARY DEMPSEY - The Irish midfielder seemed to cover every blade of grass on the park aswell as adding a couple of goals into the bargain.