Oli Anderson previews today’s match against Stenhousemuir.

After last week’s resounding victory over Elgin at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium, the Methil Milan is gearing up to face arguably their biggest challenge of the season so far. We are ready to venture over to Ochilview Park to face the highflying Stenhousemuir. The Warriors find themselves on the summit of cinch League Two, and have won all 6 of their last games, meaning that we will have to bring the fight to Gary Naysmith’s men this afternoon.

Last Week

The Fifers strolled to our third 4-0 win of the season last Saturday, when we saw off Elgin, putting right our disappointing showing at Borough Briggs earlier in the season. A Brogan Walls brace, and goals from Scott Shepherd and Nathan Austin saw us completely overpower Elgin, in a game where they only had one shot on goal in the 90 minutes.

Stenhousemuir snatched all three points at the death last week, as James Berry scored in the 87th minute to beat Dumbarton 1-0 at the Rock, which is no easy feat.

The cinch League Two Standings:

A win in our game in hand against The Spartans could allow us to crack on and really challenge the top 4, as victory in that game would see us leapfrog Bonnyrigg Rose, should we be able to match/better their results.

Last Week in the League

Bonnyrigg Rose 1-1 Peterhead

Clyde FC 2-2 Stranraer FC

Dumbarton 0-1 Stenhousemuir

East Fife 4-0 Elgin City

The Spartans 1-0 Forfar Athletic.

This Week’s Fixtures (League Position)

Elgin City (9) vs The Spartans (4) @ Borough Briggs.

Forfar Athletic (8) vs Dumbarton (3) @ Station Park

Peterhead (2) vs Clyde (10) @ The Balmoor Stadium

Stenhousemuir (1) vs East Fife (6) @ Ochilview

Stranraer (7) vs Bonnyrigg Rose (5) @ Stair Park

The Form

The Hosts

Stenny have made no mistakes in their last 6 outings, and have won all 6 of their games, only conceding three goals in the process. In fact, the last time that the Warriors conceded was on the 11th of November, as they overcame The Spartans 3-2 in a 5 goal thriller. Their biggest win came against Stranraer, as they ran out 3-0 winners three weeks ago. Their man of the moment is Matthew Aitken, who has bagged 6 in the last 6, so is definitely one to watch.

The Fife

We currently hold a form which shows 6 points from 5 cinch League Two games, and a premature exit in the Scottish Cup, which is certainly far from ideal.

Our 2 wins came against Clyde on the road, and against Elgin, last week, at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. There were lots of similarities in the games, which look to be somewhat a mirror of the other. Both games saw fast starts, with us leading 2-0 at the break. On top of this, Nathan Austin and Brogan Walls both found themselves on the scoresheets in the games, with Walls bagging a brace against Elgin City.

Unfortunately, not all of our results have been quite as emphatic.

We have succumbed to 4 defeats in our last 6, losing to Dunbar in the Scottish Cup 1-0, through a penalty in what was a devastating game. Before witnessing two equally gut-wrenching performances in the weeks that followed, against Peterhead and Dumbarton, failing to score in either.

Our last defeat was in the capital, losing out to Bonnyrigg 4-2. We looked slack at set pieces on the day, which proved to be our downfall, conceding from a concerningly deep free kick and two penalties. Austin once again found himself on the scoresheet however, which gives some hope that he could be up and running now for the remainder of the season.

Previous Encounter

The less said about the last time the sides met the better, so I’ll try to keep it brief.

Stenny are the best side I’ve seen at Bayview this season, and controlled the game against us for the duration. They broke the deadlock through Gregor Buchanan in the first half, before a stoppage time goal from Adam Brown delivered the two punch knockout. It was disappointing day at the office, though one I am confident the Methil Men can rectify today.

Squad News

Outs- Pat Slattery remains the only players still on the treatment table after picking up on knock in training last week.

Ins- Alan Trouten makes his return having served his suspension last week.

Team Colours

East Fife will don the 120th Anniversary black and gold top, matched with white socks and shorts, while the goalkeeper will be clad in the new, all yellow kit for the tie.

Stenhousemuir will also wear their home kit at the weekend, wearing a maroon shirt, with matching socks, and white shorts too. The Warriors goalie will wear black this afternoon.

Match Tickets

You can purchase tickets online ahead of today’s match

Prices:

Adult- £15

Concession- £10

U16- £5

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 options for viewers within the UK and Ireland this weekend.

Officials

The on-pitch official on Saturday will be Andy Gamble, while his assistants running the line are David Dunne and Steven Wilson.