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Match Preview - Elgin City

Oli Anderson previews today’s match against Elgin City

We make the second camel trek of the League Two season today, as we venture north to Elgin, to play the Black and Whites at Borough Briggs. A disappointing start to the league campaign for both teams, as we both find ourselves on one single point after 3 games. Last week, we fell short against a strong Stenhousemuir side, as a Buchanan goal in the first half, and a cool finish from Adam Brown with the last kick of the ball, handed the Methil Men two losses from two at home so far. Today’s hosts, Elgin also fell on the wrong side of the scoreline, losing 2-1 to newly promoted Spartans at Ainslie Park. Two goals within three minutes of each other bedded City, but a late Russell Dingwall goal halved the deficit and made for an intriguing last 15.

The Standings

Previous Encounter

The last time the two sides met, we overcame Elgin 3-1 in rather convincing fashion, in the League Cup. A Nathan Austin hat-trick, along with a stunning performance from Jack Healy proved the difference, as the local lads ran riot in Methil. A late reply from Elgin was only enough to spoil the clean sheet in what was an impressive performance.

Squad News

Outs- Slattery and Murray both still miss out due to previous injuries.

Ins- Gregor Nicol returns to fitness and is available for this afternoon’s match

Team Colours

East Fife will don the Taxi Centre-sponsored away kit, matched with pink socks and white shorts today, while the goalkeeper will be clad in all yellow for the tie.

Elgin City will be in their classic kit, wearing black and white striped top and socks for the affair with black shorts. The City’s goalie will be in all blue for the clash.

Match Tickets

Tickets can be bought at the gate, or online at Fanbaseclub.com. Please find Prices Below:

Adult: £14/16 (stand/ground)

Concession: £9/11 (stand/ground)

U16s: Free with a paying adult

Live Streaming

There is no live coverage of today’s game for viewers within the UK or Ireland however 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.

Officials

The on-pitch official on Saturday will be Colin Whyte while his assistants running the line are Paul McAvinue and Ross Donaldson.

Date Confirmed for SPFL Trust Trophy Match

Our SPFL Trust Trophy 3^rd round match against Albion Rovers will take place on Saturday 9^th September at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium with a 1:00pm kick off.

Admission prices for the game have been agreed as follows:

Adults - £10

U16s - £5

Season tickets are not valid for this game.

Match Report - Stenhousemuir 19th August 2023

East Fife 0-2 Stenhousemuir, Saturday 19^th August 2023

MGM Timber Bayview Stadium, cinch League Two

East Fife continued their poor start in League Two, falling 2-0 to Stenhousemuir, at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium on Saturday. The Fifers now have only a single point from their 3 opening games and find themselves at the foot of the table after 3 rounds of fixtures. One of the few positives from the disappointing showing was the new home kit, as the Fifers return to the Black and Gold stripes to mark the club’s 120th anniversary.

The first chance of the game, however, came for the Fifers through Jack Healy. In textbook Healy fashion, the winger cut inside, and unleashed a curled effort on the far left that was blocked from its trajectory toward the top corner. Shortly after, McManus was denied by Jamieson too, in a promising start from the Fife.

As is apparent with watching the Fife from time to time, it’s the hope that kills you, and the tides started to turn soon after, with Fleming being pulled into a great double save to keep the score level. The experience stopper had a great game, keeping the score down from what could have been a demolition at times, with his reactions being called upon more than once.

The opener came 10 minutes later through Gregor Buchanan, who headed home after the Fifers failed to clear their lines. A stramash in the area led to the skipper getting on the end of an ariel duel and firing the ball into the roof of the net.

In routine fashion, the Fifers pushed but the Warriors sat back to see out the first half. Shepherd had a half chance in the dying embers of the first 45 but his half volley attempt was fired well wide.

The second half saw the Black and Gold trying to find the equaliser, to no avail. With Stenny defending robustly, and as has been a common theme this year so far, the Black and Gold lacking the cutting edge.

The chance of the game came from Nathan Austin, who was found by Healy with a great cutback. The winger jinked inside two then onto his right foot, before lashing a low driven ball to Austin, but the striker couldn’t suss out his feet and fired off target.

The nail in the coffin came in the 93rd minute, Adam Brown capitalised on the break, doubling the Warriors’ advantage, confirming that Gary Naysmith’s men would run out winners. Second best on the park on the day unfortunately, as Stenhousemuir looked like an outfit more than capable of cracking on and pushing for a higher finish than their 6th place from last year.

Although there is plenty of time, there is also plenty of work needing done this week for the Methil Men, as this weekend we travel up to Borough Briggs for a tussle with Elgin. In our last meeting, we ran out 3-1 winners during the Viaplay Cup group stage. A similar result is both desired and required this weekend.

Report by Oli Anderson

East Fife – Fleming, Murdoch, Docherty, Easton, Comerford, Millar (Walls 61’), McManus, Trouten, Shepherd, Healy, Austin (Schiavone 82’). Subs not used: Newton, Page, Philp, Hambrook, Beveridge

Stenhousemuir – D Jamieson, Meechan, Buchanan, N Jamieson, Bilham, Wedderburn, Berry, Taylor (Brown 69’), O’Reilly (Kirkpatrick 79’), Aitken, Yates (Lynch 90+2’). Subs not used: Lyle

Referee – Dan McFarlane

Attendance - 553