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East Fife 3-1 Elgin City, Viaplay Cup Group G MD2

Tuesday 18th July 2023, MGM Timber Bayview Stadium

The Fifers maintained their unbeaten start to their Viaplay Cup campaign as they overcame fellow League Two side Elgin City at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium on Tuesday night. The comfortable 3-1 win came from Hat-trick Hero and local lad Nathan Austin whose positioning and ability to read the game landed him 3 very similar goals on the night. Despite fighting hard in the second half, Elgin have succumbed to a second straight defeat in the group stages.

The action started fast and favourably for the Methil Men, who capitalised on a nervy Elgin side, with Jack Healy catching a loose pass early on, in what was a tremendous showing for the youngster. His touched bobbled past the ‘keeper to the aforementioned Austin, who has continued his pre-season scoring form and burst the empty net after 90 seconds of action. The Bayview outfit grew further into the game too as Healy terrorised the Elgin left back for the duration of the game. The winger looked as hungry and passionate as ever, and his end product seems to have improved further from last season, as he was able to pick the killer pass which he lacked at times last season.

Chances continued to flow for the Fifers, and chances from both Easton and Newton fired off target just after the half an hour mark. Even though we were relentlessly knocking on the door we could not find the breakthrough. That was until the 39th minute. Jack Healy again tied his full back in knots, skipping past him on the outside, before jinking in and spraying a square ball across the face of goal, which met the welcome boot of Austin who tapped in his second of the evening, and East Fife’s second too.

East Fife had to spend the beginning of the second period on the back foot, looking to pick off the Black and Whites on the break. Fleming was forced into two big saves within 3 minutes of one another to deny Liam Harvey’s volley attempts, which he made look easy.

After 70 minutes Ross Draper missed a golden opportunity to hand Elgin a way back into the tie, before Dingwall capitalised 7 minutes later. A tidy pass from the wing found an onrushing Russell Dingwall, who used his body to get over the ball, and lash his effort into the far bottom corner leaving Fleming rooted to the touchline.

East Fife’s desire and hunger came straight to the fore however, as the 1 goal difference only lasted a matter of seconds. Allan Fleming’s long kick was flicked on by Austin, who then made a darting run to the back post. Gregor Nicol was able to control the ball, and fizz a pass back to Austin who, composed as ever, took a touch and buried his shot past the Elgin goalie, meaning, 3 goals for Austin, 3 goals for the fans, and 3 huge points for the Methil Milan, as we shuffle one miniscule step toward the second round. We still have the two toughest games to go, travelling to Fir Hill and Palmerston in the coming fixtures, but if this week is anything to go by, the Fifers are not to be discounted.

Report by Oli Anderson

East Fife – Fleming, Newton, Page, Philp, Easton, McManus, Trouten, Healy, Walls (Nicol 66’), Shepherd (Schiavone 66’), Austin (Millar 82’). Subs not used: Beveridge, Slattery, Cunningham, Docherty, Murray, Comerford

Elgin City – Hoban, Cairns, Mackenzie, MacLeman, Draper, Dingwall, Cameron (Taylor 76’), Lawrence, MacInnes (MacEwan 45’), Mitchell (Jamieson 45’), Harvey. Subs not used: McHale, Hayllar

Referee: Steven Kirkland

Attendance: 384

Highlights from yesterday's Viaplay Cup Group G match against Elgin City along with post-match reaction from Paul Thomson, Nathan Austin and Ross Philp.

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Oli Anderson previews tonight’s Viaplay Cup match against Elgin City

The Fifers are back in action in the Viaplay Cup tonight, as we face fellow League Two side Elgin City. After providing a shock result, toppling second-tier side Queen’s Park on Saturday afternoon via a penalty shootout, McDonald’s men will be looking to continue their impressive start to the League Cup. At the weekend our opponents Elgin went down in fairly routine action, with a fairly respectful result as they kept the deficit down to just a 2-0 defeat to Motherwell at Borough Briggs. They rarely took the chance to attack the Steelmen however, and the result arguably should have been at a greater margin.

Elgin City: A Deep Dive

Russell Dingwall

Russell Dingwall continues to be the danger man in the middle of the action for the Black and Whites, with his ability to perform across the park, in the 10 or on the flank. Despite only being 26 years of age, Dingwall has experience beyond his years, starting his career with Scottish Premiership side Ross County, coming through their youth ranks before making his pro-debut for the Staggies in 2017, receiving Man of the Match in his only (brief) appearance in the topflight. The versatile player was then sent out on loan for the next two seasons to then League One sides Forfar Athletic and Stenhousemuir, where he mastered his craft, developing himself into a player who can take the game by the scruff of the neck when required, exuding confidence and leadership, as a result of the knowledge he gained in the higher tiers. So far, Dingwall has amassed over 130 career appearances so far, as he enters his fourth season in Elgin.

Liam Harvey

New loan signing Liam Harvey has big shoes to fill at Elgin City, as the 18-year-old now leads the line that was led by goal-machine Kane Hester before his transfer to Montrose. Coming through the ranks of the Aberdeen youth system, Harvey possesses bags of potential, starting with the Under-11 side almost 10 years ago, and then working his way up the ranks eventually making his senior debut in May 2022 against St Johnstone. Harvey has also been called up for the National Team, being selected to play at the Under 17 European Championships in 2022, though a shortage of strikers at his club forced him to be withdrawn. If Harvey hits the ground running, he will most certainly be one to watch in the League Two season, as well as in the League Cup, as his pace paired with his agility will almost certainly cause defenders trouble this season.

Ross Draper

The towering Goliath Ross Draper who stands at 6’5 has just been appointed the new player/manager of Elgin, upon the departure of Gavin Price. With one of the best CVs in the fourth tier of Scottish Football, that shows a Championship Medal, as well as a Challenge Cup medal too during his time with Ross County. Impressively, while with Inverness Caley Thistle, Draper went one better, winning the Scottish Cup against Falkirk in the 2014-15 season before he would go on to represent Caley Thistle in Europe the following season. In all competitions, Draper has made an astonishing 505 appearances across his career, spanning from 2007 to the present date. His experience on the park will hopefully translate into a successful tenure in the technical area for Draper as he looks to steer the Black and Whites to safety this coming season.

East Fife: Stand Out Performers

Alan Trouten

Trouten is proving to be a Rolls Royce of a footballer for East Fife, turning back the clock, as he put a timeless performance in against Queen’s Park. Helping to lead the Fifers in their counter attacking set-up and holding off the Spiders before trying to hit them on the break, Trout’s vision proved useful as he was always able to pick a pass allowing the Fifers some much needed breathing space in the contest. It also looked like the skipper had done enough to nick all three points as he stabbed a cross into the back of the net in the 92nd minute of action, though he was flagged for offside. He did not let this affect him at all, however, as he would go on to score the decisive penalty in the shootout minutes later.

Allan Fleming

Fleming, like Trouten showed that age is simply no more than a number this weekend, as the goalkeeper put in a quality shift, denying Queen’s Park on a number of occasions from close. Using both his hands and feet, Flem was superb in his efforts to keep the Spiders out. He then took his chance to shine even brighter when the penalty shootout came along, as Fleming denied Queen’s Park not once but twice from the spot to hand East Fife the bonus point.

Jack Healy

As per usual, Healy’s tricky nature caused the opposition problems once the game started to open up. By finding himself half a yard, the local lad burst into the box from the wing, cutting inside and releasing a textbook curled effort at the Queen’s goalkeeper, who done excellently to tip the ball past the post. In true Healy fashion, the youngster volunteered to take a spot kick, and in true-r Healy fashion, he buried it with ease, with his conversion, like Trouten’s proving a great assist in granting the Black and Gold an upset victory.

Squad News

McDonald continues to have a full-strength squad ahead of tonight’s clash.

Team Colours

The home side will don the pink, Taxi Centre sponsored kit tonight, paired with black shorts and socks. The Fife keeper will be in all yellow for the contest.

City will don their usual black and white striped top, with white shorts and black and white socks. The Elgin goalie will be in blue for the tie.

Match Tickets

Season Tickets are not valid for Viaplay Cup matches, please find admission prices below:

Adults- £12

Concessions (Over 65s/Disabled)- £6

Under 16s- £3

Please note, there are no cash turnstiles at Bayview and supporters are strongly encouraged to buy their tickets online in advance, however tickets can also be purchased from the matchday reception for those unable to buy online.

Live Streaming of the game will be available on East Fife TV for £12. Coverage will start at 7:30pm and your commentators for the evening will be Lee Gillies and Nicky Smith.

Officials

Our on pitch official tonight is Steven Kirkland, with his linesmen running the channels being Colin McAlpine and Sean Duff.

Refreshments

The stadium bar will be open from 6pm pre-kick off tonight! We welcome you to join us for a drink before the match. The bar will be open again following the game for post-match refreshments.

Pie stalls will be open at both ends of the ground from 6:45pm. Both cash and card are accepted.

Programme

Issue Number 1 of The Bayview will be available from vendors outside the ground pre-match priced at £2.50. This is a League Cup double edition also covering Saturday’s match against Queen’s Park.