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Champagne on Ice A sold out away crowd were on hand to see if the Caley Jags could secure promotion to the Championship at Bayview Stadium in the penultimate League fixture of the season. Hopes were high after last weeks results where Stenhousemuir lost at Cove Rangers and Inverness nervously scraped home against Kelty Hearts to open up a four point gap with just two games remaining. A few different permutations remain but it's going to the wire after a 1-1 draw at Bayview and Stenhousemuir beating Alloa 1-0. It was a massive let down for the big away support who witnessed a disjointed scrappy performance by the Caley Jags against a team that were prepared to fight for the jerseys and deserved their point today whilst we fired high balls onto the head of Brian Easton as if he was a ball magnet. Michael MacKenna scored a simple knock in after our defence were easily opened up on the right side. We were second to every ball for 80 minutes, The introduction of some subs injected a bit more urgency but it took a superb strike from Billy Mckay to salvage an unlikely point in the final minute of the ninety after he chested the ball, spun round and shot early from the edge of the box to leave the keeper stranded as the ball rifled into the bottom corner. That was the solitary bit of quality on a day when we looked overawed and ordinary and the fans left the stadium shaking their heads. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It started reasonably brightly for us in the opening minutes as Longstaff had an opportunity to cut into the box before Robbie Hemfrey saved from a tight angle. It was a bright afternoon with a hint of a stiff breeze on the park that often held long balls up long enough for defenders to get the easy pickings, and so it went on. Mamadou Bah headed over from a corner and the ever dangerous Michael McKenna saw Ross Munro save his header to the bottom corner. Chanka Zimba went down injured and to be honest might just as well have stayed on the ground for the rest of the half such was the impact he was having on procedings. Maybe the hosts saw this as an excuse to leave their players on the surface a la Fawlty Towers 'well you started it'. McKenna had another header saved by Munro ten minutes before the break and the 'injuries' continued to the interval in what had been a very poor half with chances at a premium. HALF TIME: 0-1 The tempo upped at the start of the second half but it was the hosts that were looking livelier around the box with Munro the busier keeper, saving from Nathan Austin in the bottom corner. Oscar MacIntyre was blocked just as he offloaded a shot as he raced onto a ball on the edge of the box and minutes later East Fife went ahead. Good work or not so good defending, but the hosts did well to retain the ball on their left wing following a throw-in and Slattery's ball into the middle was knocked in by McKenna from ten yards to dent our ambitions. We could all see this coming thus far in the game and for the next twenty minutes it could have got worse. McKenna was denied by Munro as the Fifers broke forward, the keeper able to save comfortably in the end. The play was still being disrupted and more substitutes added to this but ultimately would throw us a get out of jail card right at the end. From this point onwards, we showed much more urgency with Wotherspoon and Billy Mckay now on the park although the bigger mystery was why was Zimba still on it (or was he? Maybe it was his destiny). Ross Munro pulled off a tremendous save to stop McKenna adding a second as he acrobatically tipped his effort over the bar. That was a crucial save by the keeper that kept us in the game. Hemfrey pulled off a TV save when substitute Adam MacKinnon's volley was bounced off the surface towards the top corner but the keeper had time to take the cigar out before diving and catching the ball with both hands, Thankfully for us, Zimba surfaced just in time to nod Paul Allan's lob towards the box onwards where the genius of Billy Mckay left the keeper rooted to the spot as his volley found the bottom corner from around twenty yards. Billy collected Chanka's backward head flick on his chest and his strikers instinct saw him swivel and volley as smooth as you like and for that we will be eternally grateful for Paul, Chanka and the predatory Billy Mckay. That goal alone might just be enough to save our season as a draw next week is another option to going straight up. FULL TIME: 1-1 Make no bones about it, this was a dismal showing in a game that could have yielded the League1 title and with it promotion to the Championship. Instead of that we were dragged into a dogged battle against a team fighting for survival accompanied by some questionable tactical decisions to stay down injured at the drop of a hat. Nonetheless it worked as a disruptive influence on the game which killed any chance of a repeat of the flowing action we saw at Peterhead recently. Mind you, a lot of that was down to our own lack of tactical nous in launching numerous aimless balls forward to Brian Easton's head, a tactic that rightly saw him named man of the match. East Fife are now set for a final day relegation play-off battle after Accies beat Peterhead but that point today for the Fifers gives them some hope going into the final games next week just one point ahead of Accies with Kelty Hearts now officially relegated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 ICTFC 35 35 66 2 Stenny 35 21 64 3 Alloa 35 15 53 4 QotS 35 8 51 5 P'Head 35 -14 43 6 Monty 35 -17 42 7 Cove 35 -3 37 8 E Fife 35 -27 35 9 Accies 35 13 34 Kelty 35 -31 26 How important could this goal be. A strike that rooted the keeper to the spot. Date: 25/04/2026 Venue: Bayview Stadium Attendance: 1348 Referee: Alastair Grieve East Fife: 1 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Hemfrey; Wilson, Bah, Munro, Easton, Peggie, Slattery (Scally 61), McManus, Millar, McKenna, Austin (Oladipo 61), Culbert Subs (not used): Rollo; Gaffney, Halliday, Halsey, Healy, Latona, Rowe, Scorers: McKenna (56) Booked: Bah (87) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Munro; Millen (Wotherspoon 73), Devine, Savage, McIntyre (Robertson 64), Longstaff (MacKinnon 58), MacLeod (Alonge 58), Allan, Stewart (B Mckay, 73), Bavidge, Zimba Subs (not used): Ross; Brannan, Chalmers, Willox Scorers: B Mckay (89) Booked: Longstaff (57) Sent Off: none