Match Report - Bonnyrigg Rose

East Fife made the journey south to take on Midlothian club Bonnyrigg Rose. The two sides previously met in early August at Bayview when the visitors won the match 3-0. The team were hoping to make amends against a Bonnyrigg team who had lost 4 out of their last 5 matches. The Fifers previously played Forfar Athletic at Station Park and won convincingly 3-1. 

No changes were made to the starting eleven that beat Forfar the weekend before, with interim Manager Greig McDonald showing faith in the team to, once again, bring home the three points.

The home side took the lead after only 2 minutes when Currie whipped in a corner for the leaping Callum Connolly who’s bullet header rippled the back of the net, giving the Rose a very early lead. 

After going 1-0 up, Bonnyrigg showed no signs of slowing down as only a minute later, Connolly found himself in space on the right side, to play an enticing cross into the box which was met by the head of Scott Gray a couple of yards out, however his header is high and over the bar. 

As things began to calm down from the Bonnyrigg side, the Fifers began to ramp up the pressure. In the 30^th minute, Scott Mercer had his free kick well saved by Mark Weir in the Bonnyrigg goal. After two minutes of injury time, the referee concluded the first half after a fairly uneventful final 15 minutes with a few wayward efforts not amounting to much. 

HALF TIME: Bonnyrigg Rose 1-0 East Fife

As Bonnyrigg kicked off the second half, the intent was clear from East Fife with a couple of early chances falling their way. The first being from a long throw from Steele that no one manged to get on the end of. The second, fell the way of second Shepherd when he was played in by Millar, but his deflected effort was comfortably held by Weir.

On the hour mark, the Methil men levelled the game up. Following a corner to the visitors, Steele picked up the ball on the edge of the area and fed the ball back out to Ferguson on the right-hand side, who’s cross found the head of Ryan Schiavone who heads home from close range. 

A second goal followed in quick succession when a quick throw in found Alex Ferguson who skipped away from his man and on the edge of the box strikes the ball into the far bottom corner of the net giving East Fife a much-deserved lead.

Two shortly became three with a 3^rd goal in 5 minutes. This time a corner from Ferguson was found Schiavone who connects with the ball to head it home for his fourth goal in two games.

Bonnyrigg Rose’s best chance of the half came in the 78^th minute when Hunter played in Gray, but Fleming did well to close the angle to block Gray’s effort. 

Another chance fell the way of East Fife when Ferguson took the ball around the Rose defender and cut the ball back across the face of goal for Shepherd who got to the ball ahead of Weir however his flick wasn’t enough to seriously challenge the goalkeeper. 

East Fife wrap up the game in the 90^th minute after a poor goal kick from Weir was picked up in the middle of the park with the ball fed out to Shepherd who, in turn, laid the ball off for Ferguson the slot the ball in at the near post, sealing the game for the Fifers.

The win puts East Fife up to third in the table, five points adrift of Dumbarton and Stirling Albion at the top. Next up, the Methil men take a trip to Ochilview Park to face Stenhousemuir in the second round of the Scottish Cup.

FULL-TIME: Bonnyrigg Rose 1-4 East Fife

Bonnyrigg Rose Team: Weir, Young (Wilson 47’), Horne, Doan, Grigor (Gray 74’), Stewart, Currie (Barrett 74’), Connolly, Gray, Hunter, Mitchell (McGachie 66’)

East Fife Team: Fleming, Murdoch (Healy 80’), Steele, Denham, Millar, Balde, Newton, Ferguson, Mercer, Schiavone (Steven 77’), Shepherd (Trouten 90+2’)

Referee: Graham Beaton

Attendance: 933

Andrew Laing

Match Highlights v Bonnyrigg Rose

Highlights from yesterday's match against Bonnyrigg Rose at New Dundas Park along with post-match reaction from Greig McDoanld, Alex Ferguson and Joao Balde

Match Preview - Bonnyrigg Rose

We travel to New Dundas Park for the first time this afternoon to face Bonnyrigg Rose in matchday 11 of our cinch League Two campaign.

Squad News

No changes to the squad are expected this week with Brogan Walls, Connor McManus, Rabin Omar and Scott Gallacher all continuing to miss out.

Team Colours

East Fife will be in our traditional colours of black/gold strips, black shorts and black stockings with the goalkeeper in all-yellow.

Bonnyrigg Rose will be in their traditional colours of red/white strips, red shorts and white stockings with the goalkeeper in all-green.

Match Admission

Admission for today’s match is via pay-at-the-gate. Both card and cash payments are accepted.

Ticket prices are as follows:

Adults - £12

Concessions* - £7

Under 12s accompanied by an adult – Free

*12-16-year-olds, Over 65s, disables, carer

East Fife supporters should enter the ground through Gate D and congregate to the right of the dugouts and/or behind the goals. Those requiring disabled access should enter through Gate C.

Entrance gates will be open from 2.00pm

Match Officials

Match Referee: Graham Beaton

AR1: Douglas Ross

AR2: Chris Newman

Previous Encounter

The last meeting between the sides took place on matchday 2 of this season at Bayview where the visitors ran out 3-0 winners thanks to a Neil Martyniuk penalty and goals from Dean Brett and Kevin Smith. Callum Connolly want sent off late on for the visitors after picking up a second booking.

East Fife Team: Fleming, Murdoch, Denham, Steele, Mercer, Newton, Millar, Ferguson (Healy 70’), Walls (Balde 25’), Shepherd (Cunningham 25’ (Slattery 79’)), Schiavone

Bonnyrigg Rose: Weir, Horne, Wilson, Martynuik, S Gray, R Gray (Khan 87’), Stewart (Doan 73’), Connelly, Brett (Grigor 86’), McGachie (Hall 65’), Smith (Currie 73’)

Live Streaming

No live stream is available to viewers with the UK & Ireland.

Viewers outside the UK & Ireland can watch the match via East Fife TV with a monthly or season pass.

Car Parking

Parking at the ground is very limited so supporters are encouraged to car share where possible. There is public parking spaces in the area made up of on-street spaces, car parks behind Ladbrokes & William Hill (both opposite the ground) or in the industrial estate.

Match Report - Forfar Athletic

East Fife made the trip up to Angus to face Forfar Athletic in the first game of the second quarter of the season. East Fife previously lost out to Stirling Albion at Bayview and the team were hoping to bounce back and pick up as many points as possible. In the first game against Forfar this season, the Methil men came out victorious thanks to a late Alan Trouten penalty and a resolute defensive performance.

Caretaker manager Greig McDonald made 3 changes to the team that lost to Stirling last time out. Liam Newton, Kieran Millar and Ryan Schiavone were brought into the starting line-up, replacing Alan Trouten, Jack Healy and Pat Slattery. Ex-Fifers Mark Docherty and Craig Thomson lined up for the Loons. 

Shepherd got the game underway, and an early chance fell the way of the home side when Slater’s free kick was whipped into the centre of the area and met by the head of Munro, but his header was straight at Fleming who gathered at the second attempt. 

East Fife’s first decent chance came in the 17th minute, when Ferguson played in Shepherd, but couldn’t get the ball out of his feet and the Forfar defence were able to turn behind for a corner. Another chance fell the way of the Loons when again a corner from Slater found Munro in the middle do the box however, he could only head the ball over the bar and out for a goal kick. 

The Methil men took the lead with five minutes remaining of the half, when Shepherd dispossessed Moreland in the middle of the pitch and proceeded to sprint with the ball down the left wing, to the by line, and cut the ball across to Schiavone, who slots it home.

In the second minute of first half additional time, the Fifers added a second to their tally. Ferguson picked up the ball on the edge of the box, darted inside and drilled a pass across the face of goal to find Schiavone, once again, at the back post who slots the ball into the empty net with the last kick of the half.

Half-Time: Forfar Athletic 0-2 East Fife 

East Fife extended their lead early on into the second half when Ferguson won the ball of the edge of the box before forcing the Forfar defence into an error when, rather comically, Docherty attempted to pass the ball back to McCallum however the ‘keeper was left flat footed and could only to watch the ball dribble past him and into the net.

Despite East Fife mostly dominating the second half in terms of possession, Forfar began to grow into the game a bit more and had a chance to claw a goal back when Thomson, on the right side, played a cross into Armour, however he hit the ball into the ground giving Fleming a comfortable save. 

In the 72nd minute, Forfar pulled a goal back when a short pass from Jack found Hanratty who’s shot from 20-yards sailed into the bottom corner.

Greig McDonald made his first change with ten minutes remaining as Alan Trouten, Jack Healy and Taylor Steven replaced Mercer, Shepherd and goal scorer Schiavone. 

As Forfar threw men forward it left gaps at the back for the Loons leading to more room for the east fife forwards. Healy, Steven and Steele all had efforts saved in the closing stages. One notable chance came when Newton picked out Steven inside the area, who forces McCallum into a good save. The rebound to be dipping into the back of the net, however the ‘keeper recovered well to clear the ball off the line. Another late chance for the Fifers came thanks to a rifled effort from Healy which unfortunately cannoned against the crossbar. After five minutes of additional time the referee blows the full-time whistle. 

Full-Time: Forfar Athletic 1-3 East Fife

A solid performance from the Methil men sees them climb up to fourth in the table. The Fifer’s next face a trip to face Bonnyrigg Rose who triumphed 3-0 at Bayview earlier in the season. Since then, however, Bonnyrigg have been on poor form, losing their last four games. With some scores to settle the squad will be hoping to put in a performance to entertain the travelling fans and possibly pick up some points. 

Forfar Athletic Team: McCallum, Moreland (Dailly 59’), Brindley, Munro, Docherty, Slater (Hanratty 66’), Moore (Jack 55’), Hutton, Thomson, Aitken, Ferguson (Armour 55’)

East Fife Team: Fleming, Steele, Mercer (Healy 80’), Murdoch, Denham, Newton, Schiavone (Steven 85’), Balde, Millar, Shepherd (Trouten 80’), Ferguson

Referee: Jordan Curran

Attendance: 483

Andrew Laing

Match Preview - Forfar Athletic

We travel to Station Park this afternoon to face Forfar Athletic for the first match of the second quarter.

Squad News

There are no fresh injury concerns this week and Kieran Millar returns to the squad after suspension.

Brogan Walls, Connor McManus, Scott Gallacher and Rabin Omar continue to miss out today. Brogan will undergo an operation on his broken foot this week while Connor, Scott and Rabin are all progressing well with their rehab.

Team Colours

East Fife will be in our traditional colours of black/gold strips, white shorts and white stockings with the goalkeeper in all-yellow.

Forfar Athletic will be in their away colours of navy strips, navy shorts and navy stockings with the goalkeeper in all-purple.

Match Tickets

Admission for today’s match is via pay-at-the-gate. Cash payments only are accepted at the turnstiles

Ticket prices are as follows:

Adults - £14 (£15 for the stand)

Over 65s - £8 (£9 for the stand)

Under 17s - £5

Match Officials

Match Referee: Jordan Curran

AR1: Barry Reid

AR2: Scott Bunting

Previous Encounter

The last meeting between the sides took place on matchday 4 of this season at Bayview where the home side emerged with all three points thanks to a last-minute penalty from Alan Trouten.

East Fife Team: Fleming, Mercer, Denham, Steele, Murdoch, Balde, Ferguson (Trouten 65’), Millar, Newton, Schiavone (Healy 78’), Shepherd (Steven 59’)

Forfar Athletic Team: McCallum, Nditi, Hussain (Hutton 29’), Munro, Brindley, Flanagan, Slater, Moore, Hanratty (Jack 77’), McCluskey, Armour (Aitken 62’)

Live Streaming

No live stream is available to viewers with the UK & Ireland.

Viewers outside the UK & Ireland can watch the match via East Fife TV with a monthly or season pass.