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Match Preview - Elgin City

Oli Anderson previews today’s match against Elgin City

Another East Fife comeback saw us claim victory over Stranraer last weekend. The Blues took the lead through a deep-set piece early in the game, before James Lyon and Jack Healy both struck in the second half, relighting our playoff beacon. There was room for improvement, although the playing conditions were far from calm, with the wind providing some jeopardy to the game. Thanks to results around us, we are now within 6 points of the fabled playoff places.

This weekend, we play an Elgin City side in a bit of a purple patch. Their recent results have managed to steer them away from the bottom 3 in the league. They drew last week with Forfar, both goals coming in the first half. The Black and Whites took the lead inside 25 minutes through Lyall Booth, before Craig Thomson replied for the Loons five minutes later. With 6 games to go, Elgin remain 4 points behind us in 5th but 8 points ahead of the relegation zone.

A message from the Management Team

‘This weekend will be a difficult game, as Elgin have also been on a good run of form, but we’ve prepared well and have also been in good form ourselves so it should be a good game’.

Ian ‘Pink’ Campbell, Assistant Manager

The cinch League Two

Last Week’s Results

Clyde 0-0 The Spartans

Dumbarton 2-0 Bonnyrigg Rose

East Fife 2-1 Stranraer

Elgin City 1-1 Forfar Athletic

Stenhousemuir 0-0 Peterhead

This Week’s Action (League Position)

Dumbarton (3) vs Stenhousemuir (1)

East Fife (5) vs Elgin City (7)

Peterhead (2) vs Clyde (10)

Stranraer (9) vs Bonnyrigg Rose (8)

The Spartans (4) vs Forfar Athletic (6)

Stenhousemuir can clinch the title this afternoon with a win and coupled with failure to win for 2^nd placed Peterhead will see the Warriors crowned cinch League Two champions. It would also pull Dumbarton back closer to us, which would be welcome in the playoff race. Stranraer v Bonnyrigg Rose is the ‘neutral’ game of the week for me, with both sides desperate for the win to avoid slipping into 10th place.

Previous Encounter

Saturday 3rd February, at Borough Briggs:

Disappointed Fifers fell 1-0 to Elgin City in the highlands. The game marked the end of Greig McDonald’s reign as East Fife manager and landed us in the dawn of a new era, under Dick Campbell’s tutelage.

It was a disappointing display, where we struggled with our build up play, and only recorded one shot on target, sadly there was only one team who looked like winning it, and it wasn’t the Methil Milan.

Changes had to be made before the match even started, as Sean Docherty replaced skipper Stuart Murdoch, who suffered an injury in the warmup.

Kick off came, and it was a slow start from the Fifers, and they were under the kosh early doors. Conor McManus did expertly well to get in the way of Brian Cameron’s volley, turning the ball out for a corner.

Chances were hard to come by for the Fifers, though they were like London buses. Nathan Austin first flashed a ball across goal, having done remarkably well to keep it in play. Five minutes later, Kieran Millar had a chance, though his 20 yarder was well off target.

A flurry of chances then came in the favour of Elgin, before the end of the first half. Allan Fleming done well to dispose of Mitchell Taylor’s free kick, but sadly City did not stop there. They eventually bagged their goal in the 44th minute, with the aforementioned Brian Cameron being first to react to a loose ball which had just come off the post.

Much to our dismay, the second half started no differently to how the first half finished, and Elgin were on the attack again after 53 minutes. Fortunately for us Rob Jones’ attempt was fired well over the bar, and the score-line remained 1-0.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 56-minute mark saw changes be made, including the quick Jack Healy, whose job was clearly to break the Elgin back line down, as he is more than capable of doing. Disappointingly, it was not the local lad’s day, and the Elgin full backs done their job well in nullifying Healy.

Brilliant goalkeeping was required by Fleming soon after the substitutions were made, as Dajon Golding had a great chance. Fleming was on top form though, and he tipped the effort over the bar.

Elgin looked incredibly comfortable in the contest, though McHale was eventually called into action, as he stopped a diving header from Nathan Austin that looked destined to find the back of the net. An Allan Fleming save in the 93rd minute was the last piece of action of the 90, with all three points sadly staying in the Highlands.

Luckily for ourselves, we weren’t the only team at the blunt end of the table to lose, as 10th placed Clyde conceded a 95th minute penalty against Peterhead. This allowed us to crack on and climb the league.

Looking forward to this afternoon, we will be ready for a challenging fixture, with both sides playing well, though it is clear that we have greatly improved since our last meeting with City.

The Form

The Fife

In our last 6 games, the Fifers have recorded 4 wins and 2 draws, remaining unbeaten and scooping up an impressive 14 points in cinch League Two in the process. We are currently the form team in the league and have reacted well to the change in management.

Our two draws have come in varying fashion. The first came at the end of February against Forfar Athletic. We trailed after 35 minutes when Matty Allan put the Loons ahead, but in the second half, we found our equaliser through Alan Trouten, who is on a rich vein of scoring form, as he slotted home from the spot. Our most recent draw came two weeks back when we shared the spoils with Peterhead. We struggled massively in the first half, and Pawlett sent the Blue Toon in at the break with a deserved lead. We, however, managed to bounce back in the second period, and Alan Trouten done what he does best, and stuck the ball in the onion bag for the Fife.

Our wins have been rather varied with our first coming against Bonnyrigg Rose. Despite a closely fought first half hour, the Fifers came into control and dominated proceedings. The goals came in a flurry, and the strikes from Easty and Trouts proved just too much for the Rosey Posey to compete with.

The second came three weeks ago, as we took revenge on The Spartans, winning 3-1 at Ainslie Park. Blair Henderson scored for The Spartans inside 3 minutes, and despite a slight period of dominance from Spartans, East Fife bounced back, and grew into the game, more and more eventually equalising through Alan Trouten. After the first went in, we never looked back, dominating proceedings running out 3-1 winners in the end, with Fash and Trouten on the scoresheet, with the latter bagging a brace.

We then went back-to-back, recovering a 2-1 deficit to defeat Dumbarton at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. ‘Stone Cold’ Austin was at hand to gift us the opener inside 3 minutes, in what was definitely a ‘glass shattering start’. We were pegged back in the second period by the Sons though, as goals from Finlay Gray and James Hilton flipped the game on its head. We would not go down without a fight though, and centre half Brian Easton made it two in two for himself, nabbing an equaliser. The game was not finished, and we made sure to take all three points, with Fash bagging a second for the day, sending the Fifers into a frenzy of celebration. It was a great performance, with a fantastic moment, and result to match.

Last week added our fourth win in 6, coming from behind to overcome Stranraer. Matty Grant scored the opener from a very deep free kick (which looked to have been largely assisted by the wind.) James Lyon converted at the start of the second half for the Fifers, pulling us level, before Jack Healy scored a fantastic soaring volley to hand us the lead, and the three points.

The Black and Whites

Elgin have 9 points from their last 6 games too, and impressive return. They have won 2, drawn 3 and lost just one in those outings.

The loss came against Clyde, as the bottom placed team have begun to claw back their deficit. Two Jordan Allan goals cancelled out Jake Dolzanski’s opener. Dolzanski went from hero to zero in the game too, being sent off in injury time for a second bookable offence.

Their draws are quite impressive too, as two of the three have come against Peterhead and Stenhousemuir, the top two in the league. It finished 2-2 against the Warriors, with Wedderburn putting Stenny ahead early doors. Russell Dingwall and Brian Cameron responded in the first 45, send Elgin in ahead at the break. Shortly after the restart though, Euan O’Reilly equalised, ensuring the sides shared the spoils.

Dajon Golding got the important goal in the Highland derby, as he cancelled out Kieran Shanks’ opener, meaning that they drew 1-1 in their clash with Peterhead.

Their final draw came against Forfar last week. Booth’s goal was answered by Craig Thomson in the first 45, bring the game to a tantalising finale, though neither side could find a winner.

Their wins have both been close, firstly beating Bonnyrigg 1-0 at home. It was Michael Dangana’s second half strike proved the difference and was enough to bed the Rosey Posey.

Their second came the following week against Stranraer, who they beat 2-1, at Stair Park. The game was largely impacted by Dylan Forrest’s red card in the first half, which meant that Elgin naturally controlled the second period. Connal Ewan and Freddy Jeffreys fired City two goals up, but a Mark Gallagher own goal gave Stranraer hope with 10 minutes to go, but it wasn’t enough.

Squad News

There are no new updates this week, we are starting to get some consistency across our squad now, which can only be seen as a good thing.

Team Colours

East Fife will don the third kit, which has rarely been seen this year, with green and white top, with white shorts and socks, while the Fife goalie will be clad in yellow.

Our opponents will be in their away colours at the weekend too, with Black and Red tops, paired with Black shorts and black and red socks. The city goalkeeper will wear Blue this afternoon.

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 Streaming

Live Streaming of the game will be available on East Fife TV for our international fans. This can be accessed through a monthly or season pass. You can access this HERE! There is no live streaming option for viewers within the UK or Ireland this weekend.

Officials

The on-pitch official this afternoon will be Sean Murdoch while his assistants running the lines are Steven Traynor and Stuart Broadfoot.

Refreshments

The stadium bar will be open from 12.15pm on Saturday! We welcome you to join us for a drink (or 3!) before the match. The bar will be open again after the full-time whistle for post-match refreshments.

Pie stalls at both ends of the stadium will be open from 2.00pm today. Both cash and card are accepted.

Programme

Issue Number 18 for the 23/24 edition of the Bayview will be available from vendors outside the ground pre match. This week’s edition includes an interview with Allan Fleming.

Those unable to attend today’s match can purchase their programme online for home delivery.

Final Remarks

Every game is like a cup final now for the Fifers, though this would be a golden chance to mount some pressure on the teams above us. We have been playing well, though so too have Elgin. This will hopefully be an end-to-end contest that sees the Fifers come out on top.

Mon The Fife!