Hard fought draw at weather-beaten Bayview

Ladbrokes League 1, Bayview Stadium, Saturday 28^th January 2017

East Fife 0

Stranraer 0

Man of the Match: Scott Robinson

East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Slattery, Kane, Page, Kerr, Brown (Lamont 79’) Smith, Robinson, Insall (Duggan 50’), Penrice, Paterson

Subs Not Used: Trialist, Mutch, Austin

Booked: Paterson

Stranraer XI: Belford, Pettigrew, Barron, Neill, Dick, Robertson, Bell, Agnew, Thomson (Trialist 67’), Gibson, Malcolm (McGuigan 67’)

Subs Not Used: Currie, Wilson, Turner, Maley, Morena

Booked: Gibson, Barron, Bell

Referee: Scott Millar

Attendance: 584

East Fife welcomed League 1’s bottom side Stranraer to Bayview and played out a 0-0 draw in which neither side did enough to trouble the respective goalkeeper. Manager Barry Smith was able to name an unchanged side to the one which overcame Livingston in the William Hill Scottish Cup last weekend.

The game kicked off in horrendous conditions with a mixture of snow and rain falling over Bayview. East Fife had an early chance when Scott Robinson was played in by Nicki Paterson but Cameron Belford was out quickly to block his shot. Stranraer were enjoying the better of the play between the two sides and had a couple of chances inside the opening 25 minutes. First Ryan Thomson headed wide from Craig Pettigrew’s cross before Willie Gibson’s effort from 35-yards was well held by Goodfellow. The visitors should have taken the lead on 22 minutes when Ryan Thomson took advantage of a slip by Jason Kerr to cut the ball back to Scott Agnew who fired wide from 20-yards. East Fife had the last chance of the half when Paterson played the ball over the top to Kevin Smith but his shot from the left-hand side of the box was just over.

The second half saw the introduction of Chris Duggan who continued his return from injury and East Fife began to grow into the game however both sides continued to struggle to create any meaningful chances. Pettigrew and James Penrice tried their luck from distance without success. East Fife had a penalty claim waved away by referee Scott Millar when Duggan appeared to be impeded in the box by David Barron. Smith had a shot from the edge of the box saved by Belford before Steven Bell headed narrowly over from a corner at the other end. Liam Dick had a glorious chance to grab three points for the visitors 9 minutes from time but fired wide from less than 10-yards.

East Fife’s unbeaten run stretches to 10 games with 7 wins and 3 draws.

After the match Manager Barry Smith spoke to East Fife TV:

“This league is a very difficult league; any team can beat each other at any given time. I said to the boys it keeps the run going, it’s a good point. We always knew they were going to get a lift with a new manager coming in; they’ve a lot of experience in their team. When you reflect on it, for as much as you want three points at home, a point it probably a fair result”.

“Again we’ve got a clean sheet which shows how well we’re defending. The boys know we can play better but when you’re not playing well it’s important that you keep clean sheets and make sure that you get something from the game. We know we can play better but that’s not a reflection on the players they’re going to have games like that where it’s a tough, tough game and the weather affected the way we want to play. We’ll look back and say it was a good point.”

William Hill Scottish Cup

It has been confirmed that the upcoming William Hill Scottish Cup, 5th Round tie against St Mirren at Bayview Stadium will be pay-at-the-gate.

The gate prices and match details for the cup tie are as follows:

East Fife v St Mirren William Hill Scottish Cup, 5th Round Venue: Bayview Stadium, Methil Date: Saturday 11th February 2017 Kick-off: 3:00pm

This match will be pay-at-the-gate.

Gate Prices

Adult - £15

Over 65* - £10 FT Student*

£10 Under 16 - £5

* proof of status will be required.

Hospitality is available with prices starting at £45 inc vat , for more information or to book your place contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Both our bars will be open to all supporters on matchday.

No Jackpot Winners in Today's Goldmine

Today's winning numbers are 6, 11, 13, 30. No jackpot winners but 1 runner up winning a tenner. New jackpot is £1,750 to be drawn in The Station INn, Kingskettle on Wed. 1st Feb. at 1pm. The runner up was  Leanne Cassells (R Cassells) of Methil.

Livingston highlights

Highlights of Saturday William Hill cup tie at Livingston along with post match interviews with James Penrice & manager Barry Smith are now available on EFtv

Superb cup victory at Livingston

William Hill Scottish Cup 4^th Round, Tony Macaroni Stadium, Saturday 21^st January 2017

Livingston 0

East Fife 1 (Paterson 27’)

Man of the Match: Nicki Paterson

Livingston XI: Kelly, Lithgow, Crighton, Byrne, Pittman, Buchanan, Mullen, Cadden (Carrick 83’), De Vita (Mullin 65’), Halkett, Gallagher

Subs Not Used: Maley, Longridge, Sinclair, Sampson, Ogilvie

Booked: Halkett

East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Slattery, Kane, Page, Kerr, Brown (Lamont 76’), Smith, Robinson, Insall (Duggan 82’), Penrice, Paterson

Subs Not Used: Cordery, Austin, Mutch

Booked: Brown, Kane, Slattery, Robinson

Referee: Colin Steven

Attendance: 726

East Fife are through to the 5^th round of the William Hill Scottish Cup following a 1-0 win over fellow League 1 side Livingston. Manager Barry Smith made two changes to the side that drew with Airdrieonians the previous week with Mark Hurst and Mark Lamont making way for Ryan Goodfellow and Kevin Smith.

Livingston should have taken the lead on 8 minutes when Nicky Cadden fired a great cross into the box but Rafa De vita could only lift the ball over the bar from a couple of yards. The home side had another couple of chances in the first 20 minutes first when Liam Buchanan forced Goodfellow to turn his header behind for a corner before Alan Lithgow headed over at the back post from Cadden’s cross. East Fife’s first real effort in front of goal came on 18 minutes when Livi keeper Liam Kelly managed to tip Jamie Insall’s header over the bar. East Fife were growing into the game had had another good opportunity to go ahead on 26 minutes when Insall’s overhead kick went narrowly wide after Jonathan Page had headed on Paterson’s corner.

East Fife took the lead on 27 minutes in spectacular fashion when Paterson found the back of the net with a volley from 25-yards. Goodfellow was forced to tip a free kick from Cadden over the bar on 34 minutes before Paterson had the chance to double East Fife’s lead 10 minutes before half-time but this time his strike was narrowly wide.

After the break there were chances aplenty for both sides. A header by Jason Kerr was easily saved by formed Fifer Kelly and Insall headed wide for the visitors. Goodfellow was called into action on 62 minutes when he pulled off an excellent save from Rada de Vita’s deflected strike and gain on 75 minutes to deny Scott Pittman. Pittman was involved again 5 minutes later but he pulled his shot wide after good work by substitute Josh Mullin.

Substitute Lamont should have put the tie to bed 10 minutes from time when he was played in by Smith but Kelly was out quickly to block. Livingston pressed for an equaliser and were piling forward at every opportunity. Liam Buchanan saw his close range shot saved by Goodfellow before Dale Carrick’s follow-up rebounded off the bar. The home side has one last chance to force a replay into injury time but Danny Mullen’s header was cleared off the line by Jonathan Page.

After the match Manager Barry Smith spoke to East Fife TV:

“I’m delighted for the boys, the effort they put into that game and a bit of quality wins it. They had to defend extremely well in the latter part of the game but Livingston were always going to throw everything at it, they were taking chances, they were gambling so they were going to get chances and we understand that. The boys defended brilliantly, threw themselves in front of things and as I say the one bit of quality in the game won it.”

“We knew what we were getting when Nicki [Paterson] came, I’m not sure if we’ll get strikes like that every week but that’s what he’s capable of and that’s why we brought him to the club. Goody [Ryan Goodfellow] has been out for a few weeks and to come in and plays as well as he did is credit to him. The whole team put in a tremendous performance to get into the next round and that was the important thing.”