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Match Report - Elgin City
East Fife made the long trip up north to face Elgin City in the first game of the league season. East Fife have a poor recent history when it comes to opening games, having not won an opening league game since 2009 when Stevie Crawford was last in charge of the Fifers.
Stevie Crawford made 2 changes to 7-0 defeat to Ross County with Allan Fleming returning to the starting line-up ahead of Jude Smith and new loan signing Alex Ferguson making his debut for the club. Stewart Murdoch was given the captains armband.
Kieran Millar kicked off the 2022/23 season for East Fife, who were wearing traditional colours of black and gold. In the 15th minute, East Fife had a good chance to take the lead, when Ryan Schiavone had the ball on the by-line before playing a pass across the face of goal which is met by an onrushing Ferguson, however he struggled to get good contact on the ball and the ball flew well wide. Elgin’s best chance of the half fell to the hands of Matheus Machado, who was played through by Kane Hester, splitting the East Fife defence, however Fleming was able to beat.
East Fife took the lead on the 27th minute when Brogan Walls plays a one-two with Schiavone, before sending in a magnificent cross, which is met by an outstretched Scott Shepherd who got enough on it to guide the ball into the bottom corner, past the reaching Hoban, giving East Fife their first goal of the league season and the lead of the game.
Five minutes to go of the half saw Shepherd double his tally and cushioning the lead for East Fife. Millar plays a well lofted ball over the top of the Elgin City defence for Shepherd who beat the Elgin defenders and keeper to the ball and, with the ball on the bounce, his audacious lob managed to find the back of the net, giving East Fife a comfortable 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
Elgin had the first chance of the second half when Hester tried to replicate Shepherd’s first half lob, however his effort was just wide of the goal, to the relief of the travelling fans.
East Fife scored a third on the hour mark when a well-constructed corner by Walls met the feet of Scott Mercer, who’s deflected shot managed to evade the Elgin keeper and found its way into the back of the net. Elgin pulled one back in the 71st minute when Dingwall’s corner was met by Darryl McHardy at the back post, who headed home from 5-yards.
East Fife has the opportunity to wrap up the points 10 minutes from time when Shepherd sent a glancing header just wide. With 8 minutes to go East Fife had made two substitutions with Schiavone and Shepherd making way for Mikey Cunningham and Pat Slattery. Iain Sneddon blew up for full time ending an afternoon full of glee and joy for the Fife faithful.
Andrew Laing
Match Preview - Elgin City
We kick off our 2022/23 league campaign today with a trip to Borough Briggs to face Egin City.
Squad News
Long-term absentees Connor McManus and Scott Gallacher continue to miss out this weekend.
Team Colours
East Fife will be in our traditional home colours of black/gold strips, black shorts and white stockings with the goalkeeper in all-green.
Elgin City will be in their traditional home colours of black/white strips, white shorts and black stockings with the goalkeeper in all-peach.
Previous Encounter
The last meeting between the sides took place in the group stages of last seasons League Cup. The visitors claimed the 3 points with a 3-2 victory at Bayview thanks to goals from Angus Mailer, Kane Hestor and Tony Dingwall. East Fife's scorers were Kevin Smith and Connor McManus.
East Fife Team: Gallacher, Steele, C Higgins, Slattery, Mercer (Denholm), McManus, Watt (Brown), Newton (Anderson), Dunsmore (Dunlop), Cunningham, Smith (Dow)
Elgin City: Hobdan, McHardy, Little, Spark, Nicolson (Sopel), MacEwan, Mailer, O'Keefe (Peters), R Dingwall, Hester (Allan), T Dingwall
The time before was also in the league cup at the start of the 2017/18. East Fife picked up the 3 points with a 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Chris Duggan, Mark Docherty and Paul Willis. Thomas Reilly scored a brace for the visitors.
East Fife Team: Goodfellow, Dunsmore, Docherty, Watson, Slattery, Wilson, Millar, Flanagan (Inglis 89’), Reilly (Wilkie 78’), Willis, Duggan
Elgin City Team: Waters, Cooper, McHardie, Bronsky, Allan (McKinnon 83’), Smith, McGovern, Dodd (Reid 62’), Cameron, Reilly, Sutherland (McLeish 75’)
Match Tickets
Tickets for today’s match are available to buy online here ahead of the game. Access points for digital tickets is the double black gates at the East of the Stadium. Two cash turnstiles will also be open – Gate 2 for Adults and Gate 3 or Concessions.
Ticket prices are as follows:
Adults - £14 (Stand), £12 (Ground)
Concessions - £9 (Stand, £7 (Ground)
Under 16s - Free with a paying adult
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.
Matchday Catering
The stadium bars will be open from midday. The Sports Bar (Over 18s only) is located downstairs and the Family Bar is located upstairs to the right-hand side in the Red Door Lounge. Away supporters are welcome in both bars.
Matchday Programme
Printed copies matchday programmes will be on sale through the turnstiles. A digital copy is also available.
Alex Ferguson Signs On Loan From St. Johnstone
We’re delighted to announce the signing of attacking midfielder Alex Ferguson on a season long loan from St. Johnstone.
The 18-year-old joined the Saints at Under 16 level before being called up to the first-team squad at the start of the 2020/21 season. He made his debut as a second half substitute against Brechin City in the League Cup that season before featuring again against Celtic on the final day of the season. Alex spent the first half of last season on loan at Edinburgh City before joining Cowdenbeath for the second half of the season.
Manager Stevie Crawford: “We are really happy to bring Alex into the squad for the league campaign. He is well thought of at St. Johnstone and we are thankful that they are trusting us to develop one of their up-and-coming players. Alex will bring competition for places in the midfield and is a player who is technically very good on the ball.”
Alex will be available for selection for our opening cinch League Two match against Elgin City on Saturday.
Welcome to Bayview Alex!
Matchday Hospitality
Matchday hospitality is now available to book for our upcoming cinch League Two games. Hospitality is open to both home and away supporters and with 3 packages to choose from there’s something to suit everyone. Season ticket holders will receive a £15 discount on their hospitality ticket for all league matches.
Package 1 - £50/person inc. VAT (£35/person for season ticket holders)
- Match entry
- All you can eat buffet (4 choices)
- Complimentary programme and team sheet
- Half-time teas/coffee and snacks
- Pre- and post-match pay bar available
Package 2 - £90/person inc. VAT (£75/person for season ticket holders)
- Match entry
- All you can eat buffet (4 choices)
- Complimentary programme and team sheet
- Half-time teas/coffee and snacks
- Complimentary bar from 12.30pm-2.45pm and 4.45pm-5.30pm
Package 3 - £100/person inc. VAT (£85/person for season ticket holders)
- Match entry
- 3-course sit down meal
- Complimentary programme and team sheet
- Half-time teas/coffee and snacks
- Complimentary bar from 12.30pm-2.45pm and 4.45pm-5.30pm
- Exclusive use of the Jim Baxter Suite* or Legends Suite** for your party
*Max. 8 persons / Min. 5 persons **Max. 12 persons / Min. 8 persons
Contact the club office to book your table
📧This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
📞01333 426323
Match Report - Ross County
East Fife played their final game of the Premier Sports Cup group stage against Ross County in Dingwall. Despite already knocked out, the travelling supporters were hoping that Stevie Crawford would bring a win back home to Fife.
Ross County were the highest ranked team within the group stage as they narrowly missed out on European football last season and needed a win to guarantee progression through to the next round. The manager made 2 changes to the win midweek with Ryan Schiavone starting and Murdoch reclaiming the captain’s armband after his absence earlier in the week.
The Staggies kicked off the game with a dominant style of play and high intentions of winning. Early on County had most of the possession although the East Fife back line stood strong against the Premiership opposition.
East Fife’s best chance of the game came in the 22nd minute when Scott Shepherd received the ball on the left side bye-line. Shepherd passed across goal to Schiavone however the County defender narrowly got to the ball first and cleared it out of play.
Ross County took the lead on the 26th minute when the ball was laid off to Victor Loturi and he rifled home a powerful effort into the top corner past Smith to give the Staggies the lead. Murdoch picked up the first yellow card of the game after his rash tackle on Owura. The Dingwall side doubled their advantage with around 5 minutes left of the half. Yan Dhanda, on the right side of the box, played a square pass to centre for Ben Purrington, who scored despite Smith getting a touch on the ball. 5 minutes later, the referee blew the half time whistle.
The Second half started poorly for the Fife. After less than a minute in East Fife had conceded a third when Dhanda skipped past the East Fife midfield and played to ball out to William Akio on the right-hand side who squared it to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila to tap in making the game 3-0. Two minutes later Ross county scored a fourth when Akio, again on the right side, cut the ball back, to Owura Edwards who slots home into an open net. A short while after, Ross County and Owura added another when he picking up a loose ball at around 25 yards and drilled a screamer into the far top corner further extending Ross County’s lead.
On the 55th minute Ross County added a 6th following to a goalmouth scramble with numerous County players seeing shots blocked before Kazeem Olaigbe pounced on the ball closely in front of goal and scored.
Olaigbe scored his second, and Ross County’s 7th when he than glided into the box getting into a decent shooting position before smashing the ball into the roof of the net.
With 15 minutes of the game to go, Crawford made his first substitution with Schiavone making way for Pat Slattery. 5 minutes later Mikey Cunningham came on for Shepherd. The rest of the game was mostly Ross County holding the ball in their half, seeing out the game and route to the round of 16 before the referee blew for full time. The team will need to quickly put this results behind them as the first game of league football is next Saturday as we take another trip up north to play Elgin City in what will be a far more even affair.
Match Preview - Ross County
We round off our 2022/23 Premier Sports Cup campaign with a trip north to face Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium.
Squad News
Stewart Murdoch returns to the squad this afternoon, but Alan Trouten will be left out to give him the best chance of being available for the start of the league campaign next week. Scott Gallacher and Connor McManus continue to miss out with long-term injuries.
Team Colours
East Fife will be in our away colours of green/white strips, white shorts and white stockings with the goalkeeper in all-blue.
Ross County will be in their traditional home colours of navy/red strips, navy shorts and navy stockings with the goalkeeper in in all-yellow.
Previous Encounter
The last meeting between the sides also took place in the Highlands back in February 2019 with Ross County progressed to the final of the challenge cup with a 2-1 victory.Dan Armstrong and Declan McManus had the home side 2-0 up after 37 minutes before Anton Dowds pulled one back a few minutes later.
Ross County: Munro, Fraser, Grivosti, Boyle, van der Weg, Mullin, Paton (McKay 83’), Draper, Armstrong (Lindsay 73’), Stewart, McManus (Gardyne 79’)
East Fife: Long, Dunsmore (Bell 80’), Dunlop, Meggatt, Linton, Watson, Watt (Smith 66’), Davidson, Docherty (Currie 74’), Slattery, Dowds
Match Tickets
Today’s match is pay-at-the-gate
Ticket prices are as follows:
Adults - £15
Concessions* - £10
Under 18s** - Free
*Over 65s and 18-21 year olds. Proof of age may be requested
**Proof of age may be requested
Live Streaming
No live stream is available today for viewers inside the UK & Ireland.
East Fife TV Overseas Gold subscribers can watch the match as part of their regular subscription.