East Fife hosted Hill of Beath Hawthorn on Tuesday night with the club was seeking to pick up their first win of pre-season.

The starting line-up was comprised of many recognisable names, including Alan Trouten, who was playing on the hallowed turf of Bayview for the first time this season. One trialist was in the starting team along with another on the bench.

Very early on Hill of Beath seemed energetic with a few surges into the box but to no avail, however it was East Fife who had the first major chance in the 4th minute of the game. With the ball was bouncing dangerously in East Fife half, Kieran Miller sent a lofted ball which fell beautifully to trialist (wearing number 7) in behind the defence who slotted it past the Hill of Beath goalkeeper, Lee Wilson, to make it 1-0 to the home team. 

After the goal East Fife were the clearly dominant team with Jude Smith seeing little action but were struggling to break down a well-drilled Hill of Beath defence. The best opening in the rest of the half came in the 25th minute, when Brogan Walls had the ball on the left-hand side and whipped an enticing cross into the centre of the box which Wilson managed to get a touch on to put the ball past an onrushing Liam Newton at the back post. In the 39th minute. East Fife continued to keep control of the ball the referee blew up for half time.

Half-Time: East Fife 1-0 Hill of Beath

East fife made 3 substitutes at half time, with Allan Fleming, Keir Allan and trialist (wearing number 17) coming on replacing Jude Smith, Stewart Murdoch and Alan Trouten. In the opening 5 minutes of the second half, it seemed as though East Fife were going to continue to dominate possession like the first half but, in the 54th minute, Hill of Beath created their first real chance of the game when the visitors took advantage of some slack East Fife play, with the ball being played through to Lyle Kellichan, but his effort from the centre-edge of the box trickled wide. 

As the game approached the hour mark, East Fife were presented with a golden chance to double the lead. Miller played an exquisite pass through the middle of the Hill of Beath defence, putting Scott Shepherd through one-on-one with Wilson. The forward proceeded to take it round the keeper, but with a heavy touch taking him too far wide he laid the ball off to Newton in the centre of box who forced Wilson into a good save at his near post. The ball then fell to Shepherd o again but his effort from a tight angle took a deflection and out for a corner.

Quickly after, in the 62nd minute, Crawford attempted to add further threat by introducing extra forwards to the game. Adam Mansouri, Mikey Cunningham and Jack Healy all came on whilst Shepard, Sam Denham and trialist (wearing number 7) left the field. 

In the 64th minute, disaster struck for the Methil men. East Fife lost possession on the edge of their own box and Ross Allum punished the mistake with a controlled finish into the bottom corner of the net. As the game progressed, Hill of Beath began to pile on the pressure, looking to potentially snatch an equaliser. One notable attempt was around the 70th minute when a corner was met by Paul Quinn at the near post but missed marginally wide. The final whistle blew without any other chances of note for either side.

East Fife created plenty of chances, however, will need to sharpen in front of the goal before the competitive action gets underway next weekend. 

Full-Time: East Fife 1-1 Hill of Beath

East Fife Team: Smith (Fleming 45’), Murdoch (Allan 45’), Mercer, Millar Slattery, Denham (Cunningham 63’), Trialist (Healy 63’), Walls, Shepherd (Mansouri 63’), Trouten (Trialist 45’), Newton

Andrew Laing