Match Report - Edinburgh City

East Fife 4-1 Edinburgh City, Saturday 25^th January 2025, William Hill League 2, MGM Timber Bayview Stadium

A rampant final twenty minutes from East Fife completed a turnaround against Edinburgh City to go five points clear at the top of the William Hill League 2, making it six wins on the spin for the Methil Milan.

A tight first half saw the sides go in goalless, with the Citizens being the marginally better team, playing some slick passing football though struggling to create in final third.

In the second half, the game opened up, and the goals poured in.

Edinburgh drew first blood, when Stokes fired home from close range. It was far too easy for Edinburgh who had looked off the pace in the attacking third after the sale of Connor Young.

A goal behind, the Campbell’s looked to their bench and made a triple substitution, a move which manager Dick Campbell described as ‘magnificent’ in his post-match interview with East Fife TV. Kallum Higginbotham, Adam Laaref and a returning Nathan Austin entered the fray, and the three men turned the tide of the contest, starting with ‘Fash’.

Substitutes Laaref and Higginbotham combined on the left-hand side, with the former eventually floating a ball into the box where it found Nathan Austin. He plucked the ball from the sky and volleyed it into the back of the net, giving the Fifers a surge leading to an unprecedented ten minutes at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium.

The floodgates opened thereafter, and Adam Laaref completed the turnaround with a cushty finish. He did well to beat the goalkeeper at the near post firing East Fife in front.

Edin Lynch saw red just moments later, after Laaref turned him inside and out once again. Lynch kicked out at the winger, ending his game prematurely.

Reis Peggie scored from the following free kick, bringing the ball down well, and lashing home with a tidy finish on his weaker right foot.

Finally, Alan Trouten found the scoresheet yet again from the penalty spot, handing him his 21st goal of the season. He won the penalty on his own, drawing a foul from the City ‘keeper before wrongfooting him from the spot.

Next Saturday sees the Fifers travel north to play Elgin City at Borough Briggs.

Reporter’s Man of the Match: Adam Laaref

Need I say more? What an impact the young man made! Honourable mentions to Fash and Higginbotham who both impressed upon their inclusion in the match.

East Fife – McFarlane, Murdoch, Waston, Peggie, Munro, Millar (Jones 75’), McManus, Norey (Higginbotham 62’), Trouten, Healy (Laaref 62’), Shepherd (Austin 62’). Subs not used: Fleming, Newton, Slattery, Docherty.

Edinburgh City – Weir, McArthur, Lynch, Grigor, Mitchell (Robertson 45’), Jones, Jarvis (Hamilton 70’), Zaid, Stokes (Daramola 82’), Lawson (Wells 70’), See. Subs not used: Gormley, Beveridge, Scally, Pitt.

Referee – Colin Whyte

Attendance – 615

Report by Oli Anderson

Ticket Info v Elgin City

Tickets for our William Hill League 2 match against Elgin City at Borough Briggs on Saturday 1^st February are now on sale and can be purchased here.

Admission Prices

Adults - £16

Concessions* - £10

Under 16s – Free with a paying adult

There is no live streaming option this weekend for viewers with the UK and Ireland however overseas supporters can watch the game live via East Fife TV with an annual or monthly subscription.

Match Preview - Edinburgh City

Oli Anderson previews today’s match against Edinburgh City

Last week’s victory over Stranraer at Stair Park has seen East Fife move their run to five wins in five, and six in the last seven. We do not look like we are slowing up, although our opposition today, Edinburgh City, will be looking for revenge. However, they may find it difficult without their frontman, Connor Young, who has returned to the Kingdom of Fife, this time venturing to Dunfermline to play for the Pars in the championship.

Edinburgh, currently occupying 4th place, claimed victory over Clyde last Friday night at the ZLX stadium. Young was on the scoresheet in the second half to put the game to bed.

William Hill League 2 Table

	Team	Pld	GD	Pts
1	East Fife	21	25	42
2	Peterhead	21	9	40
3	Elgin City	19	7	33
4	Edinburgh City	21	3	31
5	Stirling Albion	20	-8	24
6	The Spartans	17	-2	22
7	Clyde	21	-10	22
8	Bonnyrigg Rose	18	-7	18
9	Stranraer	19	-7	18
10	Forfar Athletic	19	-10	15

Last Week’s League Results

Friday 17th January

Clyde 0-2 Edinburgh City

Saturday 18th January

Peterhead 3-2 Stirling Albion

Stranraer 0-2 East Fife

This Weekend’s Fixtures

Clyde vs Elgin City

East Fife vs Edinburgh City

Forfar Athletic vs Stranraer

Stirling Albion vs Bonnyrigg Rose

The Spartans vs Peterhead.

The Form

The Fifers

East Fife’s are on fantastic form at the moment, having won five of the last six games,  accumulating 15 points from a possible 18 in the league.

Our only loss to Peterhead came in frustrating fashion, as Kieran Shanks’ well-taken header early in the first half was all that separated the sides.

The last five games have seen straight wins, firstly, a 5-1 win over The Spartans was comfortable, with Trouten at the double. McManus, Millar and Shepherd all found the back of the net too.

Alan Trouten went on to score the only goal from the spot in a 1-0 victory over tenth-placed Forfar Athletic that was followed by a midweek victory over Edinburgh City showed the squad’s character further, with a quick double countering Connor Young’s first-half strike, before three goals in the last ten minutes saw the game wrapped up 4-2 in East Fife’s favour.

A commanding second-half performance saw us claim a 3-0 victory over Darren Young’s Clyde side before our dominant first-half display against Stranraer made it five wins in five.

Our Opposition

Edinburgh City have won three and lost three of their last six matches.

Their losses came firstly away to The Spartans where they were defeated 1-0 before two home defeats in three days momentarily derailed the Citizens. Firstly, they fell on a Wednesday night 4-2 to us, before losing 1-0 on the Saturday to Peterhead.

Edinburgh have scooped up two home wins in their last six too, with a 1-0 win over Elgin City in December and a 2-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose at the start of January. Their most recent win came last Friday, when Edinburgh City beat Clyde 2-0 away from home.

Previous Encounter

Edinburgh City 2-4 East Fife

8th January 2025, Meadowbank Stadium

A rampant second half from East Fife proved the difference the last time the two sides met.

The first half was void of chances, with Connor Young opening the scoring for Edinburgh through an audacious free kick. However, two goals in the same number of minutes saw East Fife turn the game on its head early in the second half. Shepherd grabbed the first before Trouten chipped in with the goal that handed East Fife the advantage.

Connor Young pulled one back for Edinburgh, with ten minutes to go, but the game was only level for sixty seconds as Jack Healy went up the other end and fired East Fife back in front. Alan Trouten added a fourth in the dying embers with probably the easiest finish he will have this season.

Squad News

Ins: Liam Newton and Nathan Austin have both returned to fitness and will both be available for selection this afternoon after long-term absences.

Outs: Gregor Nicol remains sidelined from injury.

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, tickets can also be purchased (cash and card) from the matchday reception for those unable to do so.

Please note, that parent & child tickets 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.

Club Colours

The Fifers will don the MPH Group-sponsored home strip, wearing the famous black and gold stripes, with black shorts and socks. The East Fife goalkeeper will be wearing yellow for the tie.

Edinburgh City will be in their traditional colours, of a white shirt, with black shorts and white socks.

Officials

The referee today will be Colin Whyte with his assistants Liam Duncan and Jamie Andrews running the lines.

Misc

The Bayview issue 17 will be available pre-kick-off for £3. Today’s issue includes an interview with new signing Robert Jones. Programmes can also be bought online for home delivery or in the club shop which will be open from 1.45pm.

The stadium lounge is open to both sets of supporters from 12.15pm today

Mon the Fife!

Match Report - Stranraer

Stranraer 0-2 East Fife, Saturday 18^th January 2025, Stair Park, William Hill League 2

East Fife retained their spot at the summit of the William Hill League 2 table following a 2-0 victory over Stranraer. Goals from Jack Healy and Alan Trouten capped off a dominant first half, though it took some resolute defending in the second half to keep the clean sheet intact.

Healy caused problems all afternoon on the left-hand flank, destroying Scott Robertson with his pace. This led to East Fife’s first chance of the game when Healy burst past Robertson, before squaring the ball into the box. Unfortunately, there were no takers, and it was cleared for a corner kick.

East Fife almost scored a peculiar goal after ten minutes when Alan Trouten blocked one of Sam Kane’s goal kicks. The ball propelled into the air, although there was a sigh of relief from Kane when it bounced wide of the post.

The first real opportunity of the game fell to our hosts. Robertson was denied twice by blocks from Easton and McFarlane, and Robbie Foster’s follow-up attempt was also blocked by a combination of Munro and Murdoch, as the Fifers’ defence held strong.

Foster went close again when he bombed through for a 1-on-1 with McFarlane, but the Blues’ striker squandered the chance and sent the ball over the crossbar.

It was not long from there that the Fifers took the lead. Jess Norey nicked the ball back in a dangerous position, before a nice interchange between Connor McManus and Jack Healy. Healy then opened up some space for himself and lashed his shot goalward, which took a minimal deflection, diverting the ball away from the goalkeeper’s path.

Stranraer centre half Cummins did not take too kindly to going behind, and minutes later, was fortunate to remain on the park after having a kick at Scott Shepherd following a tussle between the two.

With 25 minutes on the clock, Alan Trouten grabbed his TWENTIETH goal of the season, with a cushty finish after Scott Shepherd held off both of Stranraer’s centre halves single-handedly.

The second half was much more favourable for the Blues, as they created more though never really tested McFarlane in goal. This was in no small part due to the inclusion of Ryan Edgar, who injected pace and power into the Stranraer frontline.

The main highlight of the half from an East Fife perspective was an official return for Rob Jones, and a debut for Kallum Higginbotham as both of our new signings got valuable minutes under their belts.

Credit to Liam McFarlane, who made two great saves in the second half to deny Stranraer. He was firstly at full stretch to deny Matty Grant’s ambitious effort, before he tipped Mark Russell’s ball over the crossbar in the 90th minute.

That brought full-time for the Fifers, which was a welcome sight. Although it now reads five consecutive wins for the Methil Milan, having only conceded three goals. In that time the Fifers have added another 15 goals, bolstering the goal difference by 12 as well. East Fife’s perfect 2025 continues!

Reporter’s Man of the Match: Stewart Murdoch.

Murdo dealt with everything and everyone that Stranraer threw his way on Saturday, fending off three different wingers comfortably over the ninety minutes, in an assured performance from the skipper.

Stranraer – Kane, Robertson, Cummins, Ross, Ecrepont (Brindley 45’). Gallagher, Russell, Trialist (McIntosh 64’), Grant, Guthrie (Lang 45’ (Edgar 59’)), Foster. Subs not used: Lane, McKnight, Reid.

East Fife – McFarlane, Murdoch, Easton, Peggie, Munro, Millar, McManus, Norey (Higginbotham 57’), Trouten, Healy (Laaref 72’), Shepherd (Jones 72’). Subs not used: Fleming, Briggs, Slattery, Blake, Docherty.

Referee – Jordan Curran

Attendance – 518

Report by Oli Anderson

Ticket Info v Edinburgh City

Tickets for our William Hill League 2 match against Edinburgh City at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium on Saturday 15th January are now on sale and can be purchased here.

Admission Prices

Adults - £18

Concessions* - £14

Under 16s* - £5

Parent & Child - £21

Parent & 2 Children - £24

*Proof of age may be requested

Full- and half-season tickets are valid for this match.

All members of East Fife Community Football Club & East Fife Girls & Womens’ Football Club who are under 16 go free with a paying adult or as part of an organised group for all William Hill League 2 matches at Bayview this season.

There are no cash turnstiles at Bayview and supporters are strongly encouraged to purchase their tickets online. Online sales are available right up until kick-off. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling 01333 426323 or directly from the club office for those unable to buy online.

Please note, that parent and child tickets must be purchased directly from the club office.

There is no live streaming option this weekend for viewers with the UK and Ireland however overseas supporters can watch the game live via East Fife TV with an annual or monthly subscription.