East Fife v Forfar Athletic – match preview
The ‘Loons’ head to the New Bayview Stadium on Saturday to meet an East Fife team currently sitting only one point adrift of them in cinch league2 table.
Craig Slater and his fellow players will go into the fixture on the back of three successive 1-1 draws which have to be fair extended their unbeaten run to seven games.
However though pleased that a point was gained at Bonnyrigg on Tuesday past, manager Ray McKinnon like all connected with the club would love to see a return to winning ways in what is tightly contested league at present.
Ray though concedes that the clash with the Fifers will be another tough ninety minutes, though which game to be fair is not?
The manager has been delighted with the away form in particular since arriving on the Station Park scene, but is aware that points have still to be picked up hopefully, in what will be exceptionally tough assignments on the road before the season ends, beginning of course tomorrow.
He would be delighted to report that long term injury victim Darren Whyte apart that he has a full squad to choose from for the game against Greig McDonald’s outfit, but as ever it seems this is not the case.
Craig Thomson is still sidelined while a few others have wee niggles that will require last minute assessment.
A sickness bug also prevented a couple of players from taking part in a full training session on Thursday evening.
Latest signing Logan Dunachie a six foot plus defender who was an unused sub at Bonnyrigg will come into contention.
East Fife have just completed a mixed set of February results which saw them attain seven points out of a possible twelve.
They defeated league leaders Dumbarton 2-0, drew with second in the table Stirling Albion, won at Coatbridge never and easy task, before losing last time out 2-0 down at Stranraer.
Their danger man up front is without doubt Alan Trouten a consistent scorer at many a club, while two of their January signings, the experienced Jonathan Page who returned to Methil from East Kilbride and Aidan Denholm , a loanee from Hearts were in the starting line-up at Stair Park.
A last minute penalty saw the home side triumph 1-0 when the sides’ met at New Bayview back in mid August, while to be fair the Fifers ran out comfortable 3-1 winners on a day to forget for the then bottom of the table ‘Loons’ at Station Park in early October.
The fourth clash between the sides this season will bring the ‘curtain down’ on the league campaign on Coronation Day in early May.
The Forfar management and players were delighted to hear quite a few ‘Loons’ supporters voices in the excellent crowd at New Dundas Park in midweek and look forward to a strong vocal backing tomorrow in what as was mentioned earlier in the week is our local derby fixture this time round!
The Supporters Club bus departs the Greens carpark at 1pm and some seats are still available. Please see the supporters bus post for further details.
Experienced match official Steven Kirkland will be the man in the middle for the game.
Saturday’s other fixtures in the cinch league2 are;- Annan Athletic v Stenhousemuir, Elgin City v Bonnyrigg Rose, Stirling Albion v Albion Rovers, Stranraer v Dumbarton
The host club have advised of the following admission arrangements for the game.
Match tickets should be purchased online where possible ahead of Saturday's match as there is very limited availability to pay on the day - we have no cash turnstiles.
Tickets can be purchased online at eastfifefc.info/tickets
£18 Adult
£14 Over 65s & Concessions
£5 Under 16s
Parent/Child tickets are available from reception at New Bayview only - £21 One parent & one child/£24 One parent & two children
