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Match Report - Hill of Beath Hawthorn
East Fife hosted Hill of Beath Hawthorn on Tuesday night with the club was seeking to pick up their first win of pre-season.
The starting line-up was comprised of many recognisable names, including Alan Trouten, who was playing on the hallowed turf of Bayview for the first time this season. One trialist was in the starting team along with another on the bench.
Very early on Hill of Beath seemed energetic with a few surges into the box but to no avail, however it was East Fife who had the first major chance in the 4th minute of the game. With the ball was bouncing dangerously in East Fife half, Kieran Miller sent a lofted ball which fell beautifully to trialist (wearing number 7) in behind the defence who slotted it past the Hill of Beath goalkeeper, Lee Wilson, to make it 1-0 to the home team.
After the goal East Fife were the clearly dominant team with Jude Smith seeing little action but were struggling to break down a well-drilled Hill of Beath defence. The best opening in the rest of the half came in the 25th minute, when Brogan Walls had the ball on the left-hand side and whipped an enticing cross into the centre of the box which Wilson managed to get a touch on to put the ball past an onrushing Liam Newton at the back post. In the 39th minute. East Fife continued to keep control of the ball the referee blew up for half time.
Half-Time: East Fife 1-0 Hill of Beath
East fife made 3 substitutes at half time, with Allan Fleming, Keir Allan and trialist (wearing number 17) coming on replacing Jude Smith, Stewart Murdoch and Alan Trouten. In the opening 5 minutes of the second half, it seemed as though East Fife were going to continue to dominate possession like the first half but, in the 54th minute, Hill of Beath created their first real chance of the game when the visitors took advantage of some slack East Fife play, with the ball being played through to Lyle Kellichan, but his effort from the centre-edge of the box trickled wide.
As the game approached the hour mark, East Fife were presented with a golden chance to double the lead. Miller played an exquisite pass through the middle of the Hill of Beath defence, putting Scott Shepherd through one-on-one with Wilson. The forward proceeded to take it round the keeper, but with a heavy touch taking him too far wide he laid the ball off to Newton in the centre of box who forced Wilson into a good save at his near post. The ball then fell to Shepherd o again but his effort from a tight angle took a deflection and out for a corner.
Quickly after, in the 62nd minute, Crawford attempted to add further threat by introducing extra forwards to the game. Adam Mansouri, Mikey Cunningham and Jack Healy all came on whilst Shepard, Sam Denham and trialist (wearing number 7) left the field.
In the 64th minute, disaster struck for the Methil men. East Fife lost possession on the edge of their own box and Ross Allum punished the mistake with a controlled finish into the bottom corner of the net. As the game progressed, Hill of Beath began to pile on the pressure, looking to potentially snatch an equaliser. One notable attempt was around the 70th minute when a corner was met by Paul Quinn at the near post but missed marginally wide. The final whistle blew without any other chances of note for either side.
East Fife created plenty of chances, however, will need to sharpen in front of the goal before the competitive action gets underway next weekend.
Full-Time: East Fife 1-1 Hill of Beath
East Fife Team: Smith (Fleming 45’), Murdoch (Allan 45’), Mercer, Millar Slattery, Denham (Cunningham 63’), Trialist (Healy 63’), Walls, Shepherd (Mansouri 63’), Trouten (Trialist 45’), Newton
Andrew Laing
Bill Young
Everyone at East Fife was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of life-long East Fife supporter Bill Young earlier today.
Friendly Match v Hill of Beath Hawthorn
We will host Hill of Beath Hawthorn in a pre-season friendly next Tuesday (28th May) with a 7.30pm kick off at Bayview.
Match Report - Civil Service Strollers
Civil Service Strollers visited Bayview on Tuesday night for the first friendly of the season and it was a good chance for the Bayview faithful to cast their eye over and for players to impress the management team ahead of the new season.
The starting line-up consisted of 8 first-team players, including new signings Sam Denham and Scott Shepherd, along with 3 trialists. East Fife began the game with a large amount of the ball but only creating a few half chances here and there. The first big opportunity came in the 20th minute when Scott Mercer’s header from a corner was blocked on the line. Then, in the 21st minute, Trialist’s (No 7) corner was met by the head of Aaron Steele who sent a cushioned header back into the 6-yard box, for Denham who narrowly nudging the ball over the bar.
Shortly after, Brogan Walls sent a beautifully lofted ball through to Liam Newton, but with the ball bouncing, his attempted lob landed on the roof of the net. Walls was next to try his luck, but his effort from distance was well off target. East Fife were continuing to grow into the game and looked more threatening just as the half time whistle went.
Half Time: East Fife 0 – 0 Civil Service Strollers
East Fife made nine substitutes at half time with mostly youngsters from the under 20s along with a few trialists. The young East Fife side showed good determination from the start of the second half. Strollers saw a lot more of the ball second half but struggled to get past the firm East Fife back line.
In the 59th minute, Strollers did manage to break through the East Fife defence, but the forward failed to get his shot away as Trialist, number 15, recovered excellently to make a terrific sliding challenge which went out for a corner. Directly after, 2 further changes to the East Fife team occurred with goalkeeper Allan Fleming, who previously played for the club 7 years ago, and Fraser Oag entering the field.
East Fife took the lead on the 64th minute after Bodhi Taylor whipped in a pinpoint accurate corner to Trialist number 15, who managed to ghost past his man and head the ball into the roof of the net. The majority of the last 25 minutes past uneventfully however, as the game reached the 88th minute, the first booking was dished out to Strollers number 10 who was adjudged to have tripped an East Fife attacker cynically.
Strollers won a penalty in the 89th minute after a clumsy challenge in the box. The spot kick was taken by Ross Young (no. 10) who neatly slotted it home, down the middle making the game 1-1 with little to no time left to play. The full-time whistle went seconds after ending a night full of intrigue for both the management team and fans.
Full Time: East Fife 1 – 1 Civil Service Strollers
Andrew Laing
Club Office - Reduce Opening Hours This Week
The club office will be operating with reduced opening hours this week.
Sam Denham Signs On At Bayview
We’re delighted to announce the signing of defender Sam Denham on a 1-year deal.
The 19-year-old defender came through the ranks at Celtic before joining St. Johnstone in July 2019. Sam spent the first half of last season on loan at Brechin City before joining Cowdenbeath on loan for the second half of the season. Sam also enjoyed a short loan spell at Edinburgh City for the latter half of the 2020/21 season.
Stevie Crawford: “I’m delighted to have been able to bring Sam into the club. Although Sam is still relatively young at 19, he has a lot of good attributes and has already played a good number of games at this level following his loan spells at Edinburgh City and Cowdenbeath. I’m looking forward to working with him and helping him develop over the course of the season”
Welcome to Bayview Sam!
