Greig McDonald bemoaned a “soft” red card after his side’s exit from the League One playoffs.
The Fifers boss praised the “terrific” football his team played in Friday night’s 1-1 semi-final, second-leg draw after extra-time that saw Clyde progress 2-1 on aggregate at the ZLX Stadium.
Scott Shepherd gave East Fife the lead in the 10th minute but the striker was later ordered off after picking up two yellows in three minutes.
After a dominant first half, Clyde manager Jim Duffy was forced into changes and got the required response.
The home side started the second half well, but East Fife were forcing the game at the time they were reduced to 10 men by referee Craig Napier.
‘He’s not anywhere near him’
“The first one, the fourth official sees it as well, it’s the ball that hits Scotty’s foot,” said the East Fife boss. “The right-back has screamed and went down, he’s not anywhere near him.
“The second one, it’s two guys jumping into each other for a header. Scotty wins the ball, the boy goes down screaming and the ref buys it again.
“I think he’ll go on a be a good referee at the top level, but I think he needs to be a bit more streetwise than that.
“I didn’t think there was a bad tackle in the game, I thought it was a well-contested game.
“I thought we were relentless in the first half, and the least we deserved was to go in level.
“Jim made some changes in the second half but I still thought we were the better side. When we put our foot on the ball, I thought we could hurt Clyde.
“I’m gutted for them, they’ve worked for 48 weeks out of 52 – and to get this far and to get it taken away with two soft decisions. There wasn’t a tackle in the game.”
Fan backing
One of Duffy’s changes, Martin Rennie – who scored the only goal of the first leg – grabbed the winner, tapping in on the line after one of many great saves from goalkeeper Allan Fleming.
The Fifers were given a heart-warming reception from their fans, who started up a chorus of “East Fife! East Fife!” on the referee’s full-time whistle.
“It was terrific backing from the fans … I’m sure they continue to turn out in their numbers if we play like that.
“You can see what we’re trying to do: we’re a young side and we’re trying to play football.
“We’ll try and keep the majority of the squad together and try and push on next year.”
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