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Oli Anderson previews tonight’s match against Clyde

After a nip and tuck game at Bayview on Tuesday night, an early second half goal from The Bully Wee’s Martin Rennie was enough to split the two sides midweek. We now approach the biggest game of the Fife’s season, where the Methil Milan now have to overcome a 1 goal deficit to advance to the cinch League One Playoff finals.

Tale of the Tape: Comparison of Season So Far

East Fife (0)

Clyde (1)

Home Ground (Capacity):

MGM Timber Bayview Stadium (1980)

New Douglas Park

(6018)

Nickname:

The Fifers

The Bully Wee

League Position:

4th (cinch League 2)

9th (cinch League 1)

Points Tally:

50

24

Form:

LLWLWD

WWLDWD

League Goals Scored:

54

35

League Goals Conceded:

50

68

Top Scorer (All competitions):

Alan Trouten (11)

Ross Cunningham (9)

Clean Sheets

(All competitions):

8 (7 in league, 1 in SPFL Trust Trophy)

8 (4 in league, 1 in Viaplay Cup, 2 in SPFL Trust Trophy, 1 in League 1 playoffs)

Biggest Win:

8-0 vs Stranraer

(League Matchday 33)

3-0 vs Kelty Hearts

(League Matchday 3)

Biggest Defeat:

0-3 vs Bonnyrigg Rose

(League Matchday 2)

5-0 vs Airdrieonians

(League Matchday 8)

One to watch:

Alex Ferguson (18 g/a this season)

Martin Rennie (scored 1st leg winner)

Previous encounter

East Fife have left themselves with a mountain to climb on Friday as a string of errors allowed Clyde to go into the playoff semi-final second leg with a goal advantage after a closely contested game at a brimming MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. The performance on the night was admirable, and East Fife played some great football after they settled into the contest.

Chances flew for both sides throughout, as Clyde’s route one football troubled the East Fife backline throughout the contest.

Nerves perhaps played a part, as the Fifers struggled to get going early doors, missing out on most of the second balls. This allowed Clyde to bed into the game much earlier and impose themselves on the proceedings.

Despite this, East Fife had the first clear opportunity of the game after 15 minutes, perhaps against the run of play, when Trouten failed to latch onto a loose ball in the box after a great set play from Fife.

Clyde controlled the next quarter of an hour, though struggled to test Allan Fleming. Fife cracked on with ten minutes left in the half as they were piling on the pressure, forcing balls into the box and winning headers.

It was clear half-time came at the wrong time for the Methil Men, as they were on the ascendency at the end of the first period.

The second half had a dismal start for the backline, as Martin Rennie put the Bully Wee ahead. Cameron Salkeld put Fife skipper Murdoch under pressure and dispossessed him inside his own 18-yard box, before playing a square ball to Clyde’s number 11, who couldn’t have missed, even if he tried.

Fife then found themselves under the cosh for the next twenty minutes, as they were unable to contain the rampant Clyde attack. They forced Fleming into a save, and also fired wide within the first 5 minutes of the restart.

The game teetered out, which was devastating for East Fife, as they began to play some excellent football, while the clock was ticking down. They fired countless balls into the box, however the centre back pairing of Brian McLean and Steven Thicot dealt with them excellently.

Speaking with gaffer Greig McDonald after the game, the boss said:

“If I was in the dressing room after 45 minutes, with 45 to play and we were 1-0 down, I wouldn’t be too despondent. We’ve got another 90, our away form is decent, and we have nothing to fear. Our young lads will take a lot of learning from that and if they can go and give another good account of themselves, and we can find that cutting edge we perhaps lacked tonight, we will cause them problems on Friday.”

Officials

The referee for tonight’s Friday Night Football clash is Craig Napier. His two linesmen are Craig Ferguson and David Doig. Rounding up the officiating team, Napier’s fourth official will be Lloyd Wilson.

Team Colours

The Fifers will stay in their home kit for Friday night in their all-or-nothing clash. This will be paired with the trusty combo of black shorts and socks. The Fife stopper will be clad in blue for the tie too.

The Bully Wee on the other hand will wear their white shirt, unlike Tuesday night. They will also don black shorts and red socks to complete the strip. The Clyde ‘keeper will also be dressed in yellow on Friday.

Squad News

The squad came through Tuesday night unscathed on a fitness level, and Greig McDonald once again has a full squad at his disposal for what could potentially be this season’s last throw of the dice.

Live Stream

Our UK & Ireland based fans who cannot make the venture to New Douglas Park on Friday night can watch the Pay-Per-View for £13 (plus booking fee) HERE!

East Fife TV Overseas Gold Subscribers can watch the match on East Fife TV with their annual or monthly subscription.

Match Tickets

There is no cash gate on Friday Night and Clyde FC are encouraging people to buy their tickets online where possible to avoid queues at the Ticket Window. Online Prices below:

Adult: £17

Over 65: £15

Under 18: £5.

East Fife supporters should enter through turnstiles 4-6 on the left (north-west corner). Please have your tickets ready for scanning before entering the turnstiles. Away supporters will be seated in Sections A and B of the Main Stand.

Matchday Catering

Both home and away supporters are welocme in the Fanzone from 6pm which can be accessed through the main doors. A range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as teas and coffees are available. Hot food is also available to purchase.

Match Programme

The Clyde View is available to purchase priced at £3.

MON THE FIFE!

The popular utility man finally reached the milestone at Station Park on Saturday, with the additional accolade of captaining the side for the afternoon.

Pat Slattery arrived at Bayview back in June 2015, having turned out for his hometown club Queen of the South and a loan spell at Queen’s Park. Gary Naysmith handed the 22-year-old his debut as a substitute in a Challenge Cup tie at the Falkirk Stadium, with his first start coming the following week in a League Cup win at home to Dumbarton.

It would be a season to remember as East Fife secured the SPFL2 title, with Slattery missing just three games during the league campaign, also finding the net against East Stirlingshire in a 5-3 win. Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the celebrations in a memorable Player of the Year dance was a rendition of the “Pat Slattery Rap”.

The following season saw Gary Naysmith head to Queen of the South, his replacement being Barry Smith as the Fifers consolidated their position in SPFL1. Darren Young was the next in the Bayview hotseat as Slattery battled back from injury to add to his appearances in the black and gold.

2018-19 will go down in folklore as the season East Fife broke their derby hoodoo with back-to-back derby wins, the Dublin weekend and Pat Slattery going goal crazy with two strikes within a fortnight!

Our Pat has kept the faith through good times and bad and has drawn level with John Martis in terms of appearances for the club. Before our match against Clyde on Tuesday evening, Pat was awarded a strip to commemorate his commitment to the club and to celebrate hitting a remarkable milestone. 

Here’s to the next 250 Pat!

East Fife welcomed Clyde to the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium on a Tuesday for the 1st leg of our cinch League 1 playoff semi-final encounter, the first the Fifers have been involved in since 2015.

Greig McDonald made nine changes to the team that narrowly lost out to Forfar Athletic at the weekend with Fleming, Denham, Murdoch, Walls, Ferguson, Trouten, McManus, Healy and Shepherd all returning to the starting line-up. their place in the first team after a games break.

Not long after the game got underway, Clyde went very close to taking the lead when Kurtis Roberts intercepted a misplaced pass in midfield and drove all the way to the edge of the box where he laid the ball off for Scullion on the right-hand touchline. With the low sunlight, the Clyde man’s cross caused a mix up in the East Fife box and Fleming had to resort to blocking the cross with his foot only for the ball to rebound off a Clyde player but thankfully the keeper was able to collect.

In the 13th minute, East Fife had their first good chance of the game. Newton, from the halfway line, lofted a ball towards the edge of the box that was headed back across the Clyde goal by Steele, but the ball just wouldn’t drop for Trouten to knock in at the back post.

Nearing the 30-minute mark, Clyde had another opportunity to take the lead when Salkeld picked up a loose ball and cut the ball back for Rennie, but Fleming was again able to get his boot to the ball making the ball to divert it away from the Clyde forward. 

With around ten minutes until half time, East Fife went close after a quick break following a Clyde attack. Ferguson punted the ball clear and up to Shepherd who took advantage of a poor header from Craig to drive at the panicking Clyde defence, before cutting inside but his shot was saved by Mullen. 

HALF TIME: East Fife 0-0 Clyde

With only 7 minutes gone in the second half Clyde took the lead with a very poor goal from East Fife’s point of view. Murdoch tried to see the ball out for a by-kick but was dispossessed by Salkeld who drove into the box before picking out Rennie was tapped in from a couple of yards.

In the 65th minute, Clyde’s were very close to doubling their lead. A loose ball in the middle of the park was picked up by Scullion who sent Salkeld clean through the middle but dragged his effort wide with only Fleming to beat.

With only 2 minutes of the game remaining, East Fife won a free kick at around 25 yards out. Healy stepped up and curled the ball round the wall only for it to land on the roof of the net with the keeper beaten. 

FULL TIME: East Fife 0-1 Clyde

A tough result to take when the teams were very evenly matched, however the tie is far from over. The return leg takes place this Friday at New Douglas Park where both teams will be looking to progress to final where they’ll play the winner of the tie between Dumbarton and Annan Athletic.

East Fife: Fleming, Murdoch, Steele, Newton, Denham, McManus, Trouten (Steven 75’), Healy, Walls, Ferguson (Denholm 85’), Shepherd

Clyde: Mullen, Lyon, McLean, Craig, Sula (Thicot 73’), Roberts, Scullion (Kennedy 85’), Cameron (Duthie 78’), Hynes, Rennie (McDonald 85’), Salkeld

Referee: Barry Cook

Attendance: 1206

Report by Andrew Laing

On Friday night we travel to New Douglas Park to face Clyde in the 2nd leg of our cinch League 1 play-off semi-final. The match has been confirmed as all ticket and Clyde are strongly encouraging fans to buy online in advance to avoid queuing at the ticket window.

Ticket prices

Adults - £17

Over 65s - £14

Under 18s* - £5

For those who can’t make it to the game, Clyde are offering a PPV to UK & Ireland viewers priced at £13 + a streaming fee.

East Fife TV Overseas Gold Subscribers can watch the match on East Fife TV with their annual or monthly subscription.