Arbroath’s first league win of the season, at Bayview, was little surprise to boss Todd Lumsden.
The Red Lichties number one said he’d seen enough from his side in recent weeks to suggest the first three points were just around the corner.
They duly arrived at East Fife thanks to Bobby Linn’s stunning late free-kick.
Lumsden said: “We set out trying to build from a solid base and we did that and added a bit of magic from Bobby.
“We’ve been playing well over the last three weeks but just didn’t get the points that we merited.”
The visitors possibly had the better of the few clear-cut chances that were created as a wild wind whipped over Bayview.
Craig Johnstone was inches away from breaking the deadlock with a free-kick which shaved the post.
The visitors looked anything but a team scrapping for a win at the foot of the division.
East Fife gradually pressed their way into the game and could have gone ahead when Jonathan Page headed over the bar.
Kevin Smith was the next to go close for the Methil men but blazed over the bar from eight yards.
It was pretty clear that the team scoring the first goal had probably done enough to win the game.
It came with 10 minutes left.
East Fife got into a mess on the edge of their box and gave away a foul. They were duly punished when Linn stepped up and curled a fine strike into Ryan Goodfellow’s top corner.
Home boss Gary Naysmith claimed the visitors arrived at Bayview looking for a draw, but conceded his side hadn’t done enough to win the game.
He added: “They had a good front three but we kept them quiet and they didn’t have a shot.
“But a silly foul has cost us the game.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t play well at home and we have a good record at home.
“I’m also not happy that we didn’t play well going forward and creating chances.”