East Fife suffered another frustrating season in which they missed out on the League One playoffs, despite being well in the running throughout the campaign.
Ultimately, it was a combination of a poor start to the season and dreadful away form that ultimately cost Darren Young’s side a place in the top four. Indeed, no club in the whole league had a worse record than the Fifers on their travels. It was so poor that even the division’s best home record was unable to make up for it.
Certainly, things looked rather bleak after four points from the first five matches, but they quickly turned a corner and, even when the fixture list piled up in the second half of the season, they were largely able to cope with the rigours of it well.
Injuries, however, hit East Fife at key moments, with attackers Kevin Smith and Ryan Wallace missing key games late in the campaign, while they were unable to add quality to their attacking line on loan. Furthermore, Danny Swanson was expected to be a classy performer in the midfield but spent much of the season injured. Instead, Scott Agnew continued to star.
East Fife were unable to get the best out of Aaron Dunsmore on the right. A key player in the past, he was a shadow of his former self this season, which had a significantly adverse effect on the team.
The other area in which they struggled was in goal. Jordan Hart and Brett Long vied for the No.1 spot throughout the season without either really able to make it their own. It was an area that served to undermine their challenge.
Ultimately, this was a frustrating campaign and one in which they did not necessarily make significant strides forward. The stop-start nature of the campaign cost them, though.
