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Oli Anderson previews today’s match against Clyde

East Fife fell from the top of the league last week, losing 2-1 to Stranraer at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. Today, the Methil Milan hit the road, heading for 9th placed Clyde, in what will be a tricky game against new manager Darren Young’s side.

There will be a period of silence ahead of kick off today for former Clyde player Stevie Convery who died suddenly on Sunday aged 52.

William Hill League Two Table

  Team Pld GD Pts
1 Peterhead 12 7 24
2 East Fife 12 15 23
3 Elgin City 12 6 23
4 Stirling Albion 12 0 19
5 Edinburgh City 12 -2 15
6 The Spartans 12 -1 13
7 Stranraer 12 -5 12
8 Bonnyrigg Rose 12 -1 11
9 Clyde 12 -9 9
10 Forfar Athletic 12 -10 9

* Bonnyrigg Rose have received a 6-point deduction due to their inability to meet SPFL guidelines.

Last Week’s Results

Bonnyrigg Rose 2-0 Elgin City

East Fife 1-2 Stranraer

Edinburgh City 1-0 Clyde

Forfar Athletic 0-3 The Spartans

Stirling Albion 2-3 Peterhead

This Week’s Fixtures

Clyde vs East Fife

Elgin City vs Forfar Athletic

Peterhead vs Edinburgh City

Stranraer vs Bonnyrigg Rose

The Spartans vs Stirling Albion

The Form

The Fifers

East Fife’s last six games have seen a dip in form with just two wins, two draws and two losses. We have also failed to win in the last four weeks, which has seen us fall from the top of the William Hill League 2.

The first loss came in incredibly disappointing fashion, as we slumped out of the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle for the fourth year running, as we lost 1-0 at home to Banks O’Dee. The second came last week when we fell 2-1 to Stranraer. Similar to the game at Stair Park earlier in the season. The Blues took an early lead in the first half before a rejuvenated Fife side grabbed an equaliser not long after the restart. Unfortunately, Stranraer secured a sucker punch of a goal to claim all three points.

Our draws have also been in recent weeks, with a goalless draw against Forfar Athletic, and a 1-1 draw with Stirling Albion coming in both of our most recent league games.

When our wins have come, they have been spectacles. The first win was against Peterhead when we beat the then-league leaders at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. The routine display saw Alan Trouten and Stewart Murdoch both on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win. The following week, Nathan Austin scored the only goal in a 1-0 win away to the Spartans, a result which saw us climb to the top of the league. The following week, East Fife showed their cutting edge, burying five against a 10-man Bonnyrigg Rose side. Alan Trouten bagged a hattrick, with Andrew Tod making it on the scoresheet for the first time in his professional career.

Our Opposition

Clyde have failed to win in their last six games, with three draws and two losses in the league, as well as defeat in the Scottish Cup. The draws have come against Bonnyrigg Rose, the Spartans and Peterhead, and have all been relatively high-scoring affairs, with two 2-2 draws and a 1-1 too. Jordon Allan was the most prolific in front of goal in those games, though Marley Redfern and Martin Rennie have also caused problems.

Clyde took Elgin City to penalties at Borough Briggs in the Scottish Cup, though after 13 penalties each, it was the Black and Whites who progressed 8-7.

Their two league defeats both came away from home, with Edinburgh City beating them 1-0 last week, as well as Stirling Albion securing a 3-1 victory against them in October. Robbie Leitch was the one to score for the Bully Wee at Forthbank.

Previous Encounte

East Fife 5-1 Clyde

31st August 2024- MGM Timber Bayview Stadium

East Fife dispatched of the Bully Wee with ease the last time the two sides met. Nathan Austin and Alan Trouten were firing on all cylinders, with the former scoring a potential goal of the season contender just a couple of weeks into the season. Fash scored first before Trouten doubled the lead from the spot inside 20 minutes. Clyde pulled one back through Marley Redfern’s penalty (which was their only shot on target in the game) before Austin’s curled effort from the right-hand corner of the box found the top corner. Controlling the second half, East Fife added another two goals in the late stages, with Trouten grabbing a second as well as Adam Laaref finding himself on the scoresheet.

Squad News

Outs: Liam Newton continues to miss out through his knee injury. Brian Easton is also nursing a rib injury so is unavailable for selection and Nathan Austin is also out of action after his shoulder injury last week. Andrew Tod will be assessed by his parent club Dunfermline Athletic before ahead of the game.

Ins: Alan Trouten returns to the squad though he is still making his way back to full fitness. Under 20s players Masson Winn, Logan Briggs and Neil Blake have all been called up to the first team for the game.  

Match Tickets

Prices for New Douglas Park below:

Adults: £19

Concessions: £15

Under-18s: £5

Tickets can be purchased through the Clyde FC ticket store or via the TicketCo Wallet app on your smartphone.

Live Stream

For our International Fans, live streaming for today’s game will be available on EFTV, using a Monthly, or Annual Gold Pass. Today’s commentator will be Liam Anderson.

As this game takes place outside UK blocked hours, a live stream is available via Clyde TV.

Club Colours

The Fifers will don the new Harley’s Taxis sponsored third kit. Wearing a red top, with black shorts and socks. Our goalkeeper will be in all yellow for the clash.

Clyde will be in their traditional colours of a white shirt with black shorts and red socks for the contest, with the Bully Wee goalie in blue this afternoon.

Officials

The referee today will be Greg Soutar. His assistants are Andy Milne and James McCluskey.

Misc

Our supporters do not have access to the ‘fanzone’ today due to an event. Clyde apologises to supporters for the late notice.

Mon the Fife!

East Fife FC are delighted to announce a new partnership with McPhails in Leven for them to become our main teamsheet sponsor.

You may have heard recently from our stadium announcers about the new partnership, and have noticed the McPhails logo featuring on our social media team line up graphics already this season.

Scott Young from our commercial team said "I'm delighted to announce this partnership with the Mcphails. They are an excellent local bar that is the staple of everyone's nights out in Leven so I'm delighted they are partnering with the club and look forward to how we can make this partnership flourish."

Lee Murray, owner proprietor of McPhails added: “We’re delighted to support East Fife this season. A lot of supporters are regulars with us, so we felt we could give something back. We look forward to a long and successful partnership with the club”

MCPHAILS

Admission prices for our William Hill League 2 match against Clyde at New Douglas Park on Saturday 16th November have been confirmed as follows

Admission Prices

Adults - £19

Concessions* - £15

Under 18s* - £5

*Proof of age may be requested

Tickets are available to purchase via Clyde's ticketing website.

Supporters outside the UK and Ireland can also watch via East Fife TV with a monthly or annual subscription. 

East Fife 1-2 Stranraer, William Hill League 2, Saturday 9th November 2024, MGM Timber Bayview Stadium

We succumbed to yet another disappointing result last weekend, falling from the top of League Two following a 2-1 loss at home against Stranraer.

The Blues started the game much more positively and took the lead inside 25 minutes with Max Guthrie on the scoresheet. Deryn Lang latches onto a long ball over the top and forces McFarlane into a good save but the ball fell to Guthrie who made no mistake on the rebound.

We did not create enough in the first 45, and could not get going, though neither side was able to dictate the tempo of the game. Just before half-time, East Fife should have pulled level against the odds. Goalkeeper Mutch had to produce the goods with a fantastic double save right before the whistle.

The inclusion of Adam Laaref brought East Fife a much-needed spark and led to us grabbing an equaliser early in the second half. Pat Slattery took the corner kick, which found Munro and the centre half made no mistake with his bullet header.

The Fifers looked to be the team on the ascendency with Mutch again called into action to deny Munro a second with another top-quality save before Stranraer grabbed a winner with a little over 10 minutes left to play. A deflected shot rebounded off the post and into the path of Matty Grant who converted with just ten minutes to go, and the Blues were able to hold on and see the game out.

After the match, Ian Campbell expressed his disappointment in an interview with East Fife TV. The Fifers’ assistant manager said: “Obviously it is a poor result. The first half was a very, very disappointing performance. Just because we are top of the league, it does not mean that we are entitled to win games. Stranraer are a good side, and they showed that today. We have dropped massively in the last three to four weeks, and that needs to improve soon.”

Goalscorer Andy Munro shared a balanced take on the team’s form too, saying: “Every team goes through one of these spells. I’d much rather it happens now than in April or May, our main objective is to pick ourselves up and get a result at Clyde next week.”

East Fife visit Clyde next week, while Stranraer return to Stair Park to host Bonnyrigg Rose.

Reporter’s Man of the Match: Adam Laaref.

Adam added a different dynamic in the second half upon his inclusion into the game. He gave us a threat that was absent in the first half and was fully deserving of the MotM award at the full-time whistle.

East Fife – McFarlane, Murdoch, Slattery (Trouten 72’), Peggie, Munro, Millar, McManus, Norey, Shepherd, Healy (Laaref 45’), Austin (Walker 56’). Subs not used: Fleming, Briggs, Winn, Docherty.

Stranraer – Mutch, Ross, McQueen (Cummins 68’), Reis, Robertson (Grant 61’), Gallagher, Russell, Hawkshaw (Brindley 77’), Ecrepont (Edgar 77’), Guthrie (Dunlop 77’), Lang. Subs not used: Pazikas, Adam, McKnight.

Referee – Ryan Lee

Attendance - 639