Two first half goals were enough for Arbroath to book their place in Sunday night’s Scottish Cup Fourth Round draw in a professional victory over East Fife in Methil.
Gavin Reilly marked his return to the side with the second goal in a 2-0 win having provided the assist for Findlay Marshall’s early opener that set the tone for a comfortable afternoon.
Arbroath showed two changes from the side that drew with Raith Rovers last Saturday, as David Gold and Reilly came into the lineup in place of Ryan Flynn and Dapo Mebude. Taylor Steven was missing however, with parent club St Johnstone choosing to not allow him to play.
The Lichties made a fast start as they looked to ensure there would be no cup shock at Bayview, opening the scoring inside ten minutes. Harry Cochrane opened the play with a great ball out wide to Reilly whose cross to the back post was turned home from the tightest of angles by Marshall.
Sam Culbert tried his luck with an effort that was easily held by Aidan McAdams as the League One side went in search of a quickfire equaliser, but it was Arbroath who should have made it two as Reilly again got in behind before finding Ryan Dow who sent his strike flying over the bar.
It was one way traffic from the visitors in the first half with a succession of corners keeping East Fife pinned back. One of those found Brooklyn Kabongolo who will have felt he should have scored, instead heading off target.
The second goal wasn’t long in coming though, with Gold flicking a throw-in towards the goal and Reilly reacting quickest to the loose ball to turn it beyond Matthew Rollo and make Arbroath’s half-time break all the more relaxed.
Things were much the same after the restart with the Lichties comfortable with their two-goal cushion, albeit not really looking like adding to the advantage until midway through the half when Cochrane sent an effort over the crossbar.
Substitute Nikolay Todorov almost made an immediate impact after his introduction with a clipped effort that came back off the post, but the linesman’s offside flag came to the rescue of the Fifers.
The Bulgarian forward just about managed to avoid the offside trap though in the closing stages, allowing him a clear run at goal but he couldn’t find a way past Rollo.
Those first half strikes were enough though, as the Lichties made it to the Fourth Round for the first time since the 2022/23 season.
East Fife: Rollo; Bah, Munro, Easton; Millar (Nicol, 78), Latona, McManus (Slattery, 90), Peggie; McKenna, Trouten (Austin, 78), Culbert (Newton, 71)
Arbroath: McAdams; Watson, Kabongolo, O’Brien, Wilkie; Gold (Flynn, 63), Cochrane; MacIntyre (Enem, 88), Marshall, Dow; Reilly (Todorov, 71)
Attendance: 1,025 (431 Away).
