Opening Day Defeat For East Fife

Ladbrokes League 1

Saturday 5^th August 2017

Stair Park

Stranraer 1 (Hamill 65’)

East Fife 0

Stranraer XI: Belford, Robertson, Dick, Barron, Neill, Bell, Anderson, Turner (Woods 66’), Hamill, Thomson (Agnew 66’), Wallace (Okoh 81’)

Subs: Lang, McGowan, Currie, Stoney

Booked: Bell, Barron

East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Dunsmore, Docherty, Watson, Gordon, Slattery (Wilkie 73’), Wilson (Hurst 66’), Millar, Flanagan, Duggan, Willis

Subs: Young, Reilly, Cordery

Booked: Willis

Referee: Kevin Graham

Attendance: 409

East Fife kicked off their League campaign with a trip Stranraer but left empty-handed following a 65^th minute Jamie Hamill strike. Manager Darren Young made one change to the side that conquered Elgin City last time out with Ben Gordon returning from suspension to replace Ben Reilly.

The first chance of the match fell to the visitors when Nathan Flanagan was played in by Paul Willis but his left-footed strike was straight at goalkeeper Cameron Belford. A couple of minutes later, good play by Willis on the left presented Chris Duggan with a chance but his shot on the turn was well over. Flanagan had another opportunity from a free kick from 20-yards but couldn’t find the target.

The home side were creating a lot of the early running and had their first sight of goal on 12 minutes when Grant Anderson picked out former Fifer Ryan Wallace with a cross from the right but Ryan Goodfellow was able to turn his volley behind. Goodfellow was called into action again a couple of minutes later to deny Kyle Tuner from close range.

Wallace had two great opportunities to open the scoring within a couple of minutes when first he fired over from 20-yards with only Goodfellow to beat before he dragged his shot wide from a couple of yards as the clock ticked past the half hour. Pat Slattery should have put the visitors in from 10 minutes before the break when he latched onto a loose pass from Jamie Hamill and raced in on goal but put his shot wide of the target. Wallace saw his free kick from 25-yards rebound off the bar at one end before David Barron somehow managed to turn Aaron Dunsmore’s strike behind running backward towards his own goal on the stroke of half time. An eventful first half in which either side could have been a couple of goals up, all to play for at the break.

Goodfellow pushed away a powerful drive by Anderson just before the hour mark before Stranraer scored what proved to be the only goal of the match when Wallace broke upfield before playing in Hamill who fired passed Goodfellow from 12-yards. Substitute Paul Woods went close to adding a second on 70 minutes but found the side netting from a good position. East Fife had one final chance into injury time by Mark Docherty’s free kick from the edge of the box was blocked by the home defence.

A disappointing result for East Fife but there are positives to take into the rest of the season.

Stair Park Re-visit for Fifers' Opener

East Fife get their 2017-18 league campaign underway tomorrow when they make the long journey to Stair Park to face Stranraer, co-incidentally the venue of the final game of last season.

Manager Darren Young will have been heartened by the 3-2 win against Elgin City in his side’s last outing and will be hoping that the lengthy injury list is beginning to improve following influential midfielder Kyle Wilkie’s return to the team after seven months on the sidelines. The recent loan signing of Greg Hurst from St Johnstone has also given the squad a boost ahead of the game.   

Stranraer, like the Methil men, faced a challenging Betfred League Cup set of opponents, coming up against Partick Thistle, St Mirren, Livingston and Airdrieonians in their section. Although not registering a win, the Stair Parkers put in a disciplined performance against Premiership opposition at Firhill last Saturday before losing out to a late goal, and will be looking forward to a league season opener against a side that they have a good record against in recent years. Manager Stevie Farrell has made several key signings during the close season including former Bayview favourite Ryan Wallace.

As previously mentioned, the Fifers have found points hard to come by in previous visits to Stranraer recently. Indeed you have to go as far back as September 2012 to find an East Fife win, when doubles from Gareth Wardlaw and Jamie Pollock helped secure a memorable 6-2 success. Bobby Barr and Paul McManus were also on target that afternoon.

Squad Kit Donations

We still have a number of squad kit donations avaliable ahead of the 2017/2018 league campaign. Your name/business will appear beside your chosen player on both the official club website and our award-winning match day programme The Bayview. Kit donation is £100 for either home or away strip.

Contact the club office if you’re interested
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: 01333 426323

Check out who's available: http://www.eastfifefc.info/team/squad/squad-players

East Fife Off The Mark With Win Against Elgin

Betfred League Cup Group B

Tuesday 25^th July 2017

Bayview Stadium

East Fife 3 (Duggan 57’, Docherty 66’ (P), Willis 82’)

Elgin City 2 (Reilly 49, 79,)

East Fife XI: Goodfellow, Dunsmore, Docherty, Watson, Slattery, Wilson, Millar, Flanagan (Inglis 89’), Willis, Duggan, Reilly (Wilkie 78’)

Subs: Young

Elgin City XI: Waters, Cooper, Smith, McHardy, Bronsky, McGovern, Dodd (Reid 62’), Cameron, Reilly, Sutherland (McLeish 75’), Allan (McKinnon 83’)

Subs: Eadie, Wilson, Dear

Booked: Allan, McHardy

Referee: Scott Millar

Attendance: 331

Elgin City were the visitors to Bayview on matchday 4 of the Betfred Cup where East Fife ran out 3-2 winners after an entertaining second half. Manager Darren Young made one change to the side the lost to Hearts at the weekend with Nathan Flanagan replacing defender Ben Gordon who was serving his suspension for the red card picked up last time out.

The visitor has the first chance of the match when Jordan Allan broke forward at pace, his shot beating Ryan Goodfellow in the East Fife goal but Craig Watson was on hand to stop the ball on the line. East Fife enjoying the majority of the possession but it was Elgin who enjoyed the better chances in the first half and had a strong penalty claim waved away by referee Scott Millar on 21 minutes. Goodfellow had to be alert shortly before the break to keep out a goal-bound header from Stephen Bronsky.

Elgin took the lead 3 minutes after the interval when Thomas Reilly’s free kick from the stand-side touchline evaded everyone to creep into the bottom corner. East Fife reacted well to going a goal down and scored a deserved equaliser on 58 minutes when Chris Duggan found the back of the net from close range – the first East Fife goal of 2017/2018 much to the relief of the home fans.

Kyle Wilson went close to adding a second a minute later when he latched on to a through ball from Mark Docherty but Elgin ‘keeper Marc Waters was out quickly to collect. Paul Willis was next to go close for the home side but his shot from close range to a deflection on its way through before East Fife were awarded a penalty on 65 minutes when Pat Slattery was taken out in the box. Docherty placed the ball on the spot and found the corner to put East Fife in front for the first time in the match.

Duggan could have added a third on 72 minutes when he robbed Daryl McHardy in midfield and raced in on goal; his first shot saved by Waters before sending the follow-up narrowly over. Willis had the ball in the net a minute later after getting on the end of a cross from Nathan Flanagan but the flag was raised for offside against the winger. Kieran Millar was next to have a go with a shot 8-yards but Waters did well to save with his legs.

Elgin grabbed an equaliser against the run of play when Reilly latched onto a loose ball to score his second of the match. The goal was harsh on East Fife as they had been by far the better side in the second half but they weren’t to be denied a first win of the season. Nathan Flanagan, who had been causing problem for the visitors all game, unleashed a shot that Waters could only parry into the path a Willis to score what proved to be the winner.

Some shaky moments but a thoroughly deserved and confidence boosting win for East Fife just in time for the start of the league campaign in a couple of weeks.

Question and Answer Session with Darren Young and Tony McMinn

After the match against St Johnstone on Saturday, 29th July, Darren Young, Manager, and Tony McMinn, Asst Manager, will be holding a question and answer session in the Jeek fleming Lounge. Please remember, the match kicks off at 12 noon. Bar will be open at 11am and the admission prices to the match are £5 for an adult and under 16s are FREE.