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Match Preview - Bonnyrigg Rose

Oli Anderson preview today’s match against Bonnyrigg Rose

East Fife sit proudly at the top of the William Hill League Two following a hard-fought victory away to The Spartans last week. Our first test as leaders comes against Bonnyrigg Rose this afternoon at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. It will prove to be a challenging game, with our home form against the Rosey Posey being nothing to shout about so far.

Bonnyrigg are coming off the back of a 1-0 loss at New Dundas Park against Forfar Athletic, so Calum Elliot’s men will be looking to bounce back from misery.

A Message from the Management Team.

Speaking with the media team before kick-off today, assistant manager Ian Campbell said: “We have another home game to look forward to today against Bonnyrigg. Once you reach the top of the league, the hard part is staying there but we will be giving it our best efforts against a tough opponent.”

In Memoria

Pre-kick off today, there will be a minute silence for former East Fife player Bobby Gillon. We kindly ask that everyone is in their seat in time to observe this. Thoughts go out to Bobby’s family. Signing for the Fifers in 1950, Gillon featured 26 times for East Fife, in what was a very successful time for the football club.

William Hill League Two Table

	Team	Pld	GD	Pts
1	East Fife	8	11	18
2	Peterhead	8	6	17
3	Elgin City	8	4	14
4	Stirling Albion	8	-2	12
5	Bonnyrigg Rose	8	0	10
6	The Spartans	7	1	9
7	Forfar Athletic	8	-4	8
8	Clyde	8	-6	7
9	Edinburgh City	8	-4	6
10	Stranraer	8	-6	5

Last Week’s Results

Bonnyrigg Rose 0-1 Forfar Athletic

Elgin City 3-3 Edinburgh City

Peterhead 2-2 Clyde

Stranraer 0-2 Stirling Albion

The Spartans 0-1 East Fife

This Week’s Fixtures

Clyde vs The Spartans

East Fife vs Bonnyrigg Rose

Edinburgh City vs Stranraer

Peterhead vs Elgin City

Stirling Albion vs Forfar Athletic

The Form

The Fifers

The first game in our last six was a resounding win for the Methil Milan as they trounced Stirling Albion 4-0 at Forthbank Stadium. Fash was on fire, netting a hattrick, with Reis Peggie also on the scoresheet just before half time.

We then kept our fine scoring form ticking over, as we ran out 5-1 winners over Clyde at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. Austin was on fine form once more, scoring a brace, one of which being an early ‘goal of the season’ contender. Trouten also bagged twice for the Black and Gold, while Adam Laaref opened his account too.

Our two losses have come in consecutive weeks, with the first coming against Dunfermline in the Trust Trophy. East Fife defended resolutely for the first 45 minutes, which proved frustrating for the Pars. Unfortunately, they came out with a clear intention in the second half, and two quick goals looked to put the contest outwith East Fife’s reach.

The most recent defeat came to Stranraer last weekend, at Stair Park. A poor start saw us go in 1-0 down at the interval, before a good start to the start of the second half saw us bag the equaliser through Alan Trouten. The lead never lasted long however, as Stranraer retook the lead just minutes later, which East Fife could not recover from. Calamity in the final moments saw goalkeeper Liam McFarlane sent off for (?), which saw gaffer Dick Campbell see red in the aftermath.

The last two weeks have seen a total upkeep in form, as we have beaten two of the other best sides in the division. Firstly, we hosted Peterhead at the Wooden Fortress, and ran out 2-0 winners, thanks to first half strikes from Alan Trouten and captain Stewart Murdoch.

Last week, we built on the win against then-league leaders Peterhead, when we visited and defeated the Spartans. A second half strike from Nathan Austin proved the difference, with Jack Healy grabbing the assist following a great performance.

Our Opposition

Bonnyrigg’s form makes for some interesting reading. In their last six games, the Rosey Posey have recorded three wins, a draw and two losses.

Their wins have come against Stranraer and Clyde at home, while they also beat Stirling Albion away at Forthbank. Bradley Barrett has been the most prolific of the Bonnyrigg team, bagging two in those three games.

Their draw came away to city rivals Edinburgh City. Kerr Young and Neil Martynuik found the scoresheet for Bonnyrigg.

Defeats to Forfar and Elgin City wrap up their last six games.

Previous Encounter

East Fife 1-4 Bonnyrigg Rose

13th April 2024, MGM Timber Bayview Stadium.

The last time the sides met, East Fife were on the end of a drubbing at the hands of the Rosey Posey. Despite a promising start, seeing the Fifers take the lead through Alan Trouten, Bonnyrigg responded well, scoring three goals in the first half, knocking the stuffing from East Fife. Kerr Young would add a misery compiler in the dying embers of the game, in what was all-in-all, a weekend to forget for East Fife.

Squad News

Defender Brian Easton and club captain Stewart Murdoch both miss out this week due to injury.

A couple of players will also have their fitness assessed this afternoon pre-kick off.

Match Tickets

Season Tickets are valid for our league campaign, with prices below:

Adults- £18

Concessions (Over 65s/Disabled)- £14

Under 16s- £5

Parent and 1 child- £21

Parent and 2 children- £24

Like last season, EFCFC players Under 16 years of age will be admitted for free!

There are no cash turnstiles at Bayview, so supporters are encouraged to buy their ticket online in advance where possible. However, ticket can also be purchased (cash and card) from the matchday reception for those unable to do so.

Please note, parent & child ticket must be purchased in person from the matchday reception.

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 Daniel Hughes. There is no live streaming for viewers within the UK or Ireland this weekend.

Club Colours

The Fifers will don the new, Argentina-esque ‘Back Onside’ sponsored away kit. They will wear a sky blue and white striped shirt, with white shorts and socks. The Fife goalkeeper will wear orange for the tie.

The visitors will wear their all-red kit this afternoon with the goalkeeper in yellow.

Officials

The referee today will be Alex Shepherd, with his assistants Will Pare and Kenny Brown.

The Extra Bits

The Bayview issue 9 will be available pre-kick off for £3, it can also be purchased in the club shop which will be open from 1.30pm. This week’s edition contains an interview with new signing Andrew Tod. If you can't make it to today's game, programmes can also be purchased online for home delivery

The Stadium Bar will be open from 12.15pm this afternoon, we welcome you to join us for a few beverages pre-kick off! After the match today, local musician Mackintosh will be performing in the club lounge! We hope you can join us there.

Mon the Fife!

Match Report - Bonnyrigg Rose

East Fife 5-0 Bonnyrigg Rose, Saturday 5^th October, William Hill League 2, MGM Timber Bayview Stadium

We extended our lead at the top of the William Hill league 2 on Saturday to 4 points, following a thumping, yet perhaps flattering 5-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium.

Dick Campbell's men started well off the pace, with Bonnyrigg coming out of the traps much faster than the Fifers. However, as they have showed all season so far, the Methil Milan were threatening whilst on the attack. With 15 minutes on the clock, loanee Andrew Tod skipped in behind the Rosey Posey backline, where he was brought down by Greig Allen (on loan from Rangers). The referee adjudged that the challenge was a foul, and also denied a goals-scoring opportunity, without making a play for the ball, so as a result he awarded the Fifers a penalty, and sent Allen packing, which made for a rather lacklustre debut. Alan Trouten stood over the penalty, and made absolutely no mistakes, firing home for the Fifers. 1-0. 

There was not too much in the first half following the goal, with the two sides evenly matched, despite East Fife having the man advantage. With just moments left in the first half though, Trouten made it two for himself, and two for the Fife, with a remarkable run, beating the offside trap and slotting his headed effort home.

We continued to struggle in the second half in terms of performance, though the goals still came incredibly naturally for them. Firstly, Alan Trouten grabbed his hat trick with a header from a corner

Andrew Tod was next to test the goalkeeper, forcing Ritchie into an unfortunate own goal. The young Par launched his effort off the crossbar, and the resulting bounce cannoned off Ritchie’s back and bobbled over the line, for 4-0 to East Fife.

With ten minutes to play, the management team introduced a bright youngster, Masson Winn, who made his debut for the Fifers. It was his second competitive game in just two days, following a developmental league cup tie against Linlithgow Rose, where he scored a brace in a 3-0 win for the young Fifers. Winn looked sharp when he came on and found himself in space with five minutes to go, with an intelligent run fooling the Bonnyrigg defence. Winn’s shot was well struck, though it was into the path of Ritchie, who denied the debutant a goal in his first professional appearance.

The game looked dead and buried, though Andrew Tod, who was chasing his first professional goal, was not finished. His second attempt, this time in the 90th minute saw the ‘keeper rooted to the spot, as Tod headed past him from a corner making it East Fife five in the end!

Reporters Man of the Match: Alan Trouten

Who else? A second hattrick of the season, taking him to 13 goals in 14 appearances already, Trouten was the clear choice this week. He also showed great versatility, playing off the striker early doors, before dropping deep later in the game and nullifying the visitors.

East Fife – Fleming, Newton, Slattery (Laaref 69’), Munro, Walker (Docherty 45’ (Winn 79’)), Millar, McManus, Trouten, Healy (Shepherd 70’), Tod, Austin. Subs not used: Gilfillan, Norey, Briggs, McFarlane.

Bonnyrigg Rose – Ritchie, Mailer, Allen, Connelly (Gardiner 81’), Murphy, Higginbotham (McGachie 63’), Currie, Barrett, Arnott (Watson 62’), Ferrie, Ross (Lorimer 20’). Subs not used: Andres, McRoberts, Scarborough, Martin.

Referee – Alex Shepherd

Attendance - 792

Report by Oli Anderson

Photograph - East Fife Media

 

New Partnership with Seescape

East Fife Football Club are delighted to announce a partnership with Fife based charity Seescape, who support blind/partially sighted individuals, providing a season ticket for the use of Seescape service users. 

Sandy Allan (pictured below), a Seescape client and EFFC fan, recently went along to the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium to collect the season ticket on behalf of Seescape.   

Stephen Mill, East Fife FC Disability Access Officer and audio-descriptive commentator, commented: “Having partnerships with community groups such as Seescape is really important to all of us here at East Fife FC. We are determined to welcome as many fans as possible here to the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium for matches and I really hope this initiative encourages those who may not have the confidence to come to games, to take advantage of this offer and give it a try.    

“Football has given many of us some real highs and lows over the years but the one thing that brings us all together is the love of the game. This is a great opportunity to get more people involved and I would encourage people to do so.”

Seescape, formally Fife Society for the Blind, is the leading provider of support services for people with a visual impairment in Fife.