East Fife player-manager Gary Naysmith took the positives from their 0-0 home draw with Albion Rovers.
East Fife’s home form this season has been indifferent so the gaffer reckons that the point taken from high flying Rovers is one gained rather than two lost.
But nobody could have argued if the Fifers had kept all three at Bayview after missing a series of chances in the first half.
Naysmith said: “I can’t fault the players’ effort or commitment.
“We were at a physical disadvantage with myself, Scott Smith and Kevin Smith all having to pick up guys who are 6ft 2in and 6ft 3in but they stood up to it well.
“Apart from not getting the win I was really happy with the performance and it gives us something to build from.
“Sandy Clark (Albion Rovers assistant) thinks we probably just edged it in the first half and in the second half it was probably a bit more even.
“We’ve been on a run where things haven’t fallen for us but we were playing a team sitting second top in the league, in a rich vein of form and are very confident so you have to factor that into our performance as well. They never had a shot on target.”
It was the Fifers who started the brightest, with Kevin Smith inches away from connecting with a fine Ross Campbell cross.
As the heavens opened, conditions became difficult but the Fifers tried to use it to their advantage, firing in long-range efforts.
There was a moment of confusion when the home side tried to swap Nathan Austin for the injured Steven Campbell.
After taking to the park, the Fife bench was informed that they had failed to list Austin in the official team sheet and he in turn was removed swiftly for Jon McShane before play restarted.
In the pouring rain the only thing drying up were the chances and Marc McKenzie went closest to breaking the deadlock with a header that came back off the post.