Ground 19: Bayview

Bayview

Game: East Fife 0 v 1 Stranraer

Date: Tuesday 18^th December 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 2

Attendance: 441

Admission: £13

Programme: £2

Apologies for the short break I’ve taken in getting this ground posted. Excesses of the season and a busy schedule have meant delays. New Year’s Resolution for 2013 is getting these posts up sooner.

A Tuesday night and a visit to Methil, situated in the kingdom of Fife. East Fife to be more precise. It must be said that Methil is not the easiest place to get to, and Bayview is not the easiest stadium to find. It must be said that it was a blessing not to be heading along the M8 for once.

After only one wrong turn-off and a single check of Google Maps on the phone, I found myself parking the car on Ajax Way (how cool is that?) next to the ground. East Fife may not play like the Amsterdam greats but at least there’s an attempt to emulate the Dutch giants.

Bayview opened in 1998 under the name New Bayview and was previously overshadowed by Methil Power Station which has now been demolished. The new ground is made up of a single main stand which can hold 2,000 fans.

I had travelled to Methil straight from work so arrived with half an hour to spare. This gave me the opportunity to grab something to eat and drink (a substantial sausage roll and Ribena) and a read of the East Fife programme, The Bayview. The programme notes gave a frank and far from uplifting account of the club’s finances but also about future plans for the introduction of terracing to maximise income should the club find itself in the same league as Rangers next season.

This was my second time seeing both clubs this season and both had left me a little underwhelmed on their first performances. The teams ran out to Sam Sparro’s Black and Gold which for this night didn’t quite work as the Fifers were wearing their away strip! I had a seat in the front row which meant I was very close to the action – not quite Ochilview close, but good enough.

Coming into this game East Fife were on a three game winning streak after a boost in their fortunes since Billy Brown arrived as manager whilst Stranraer had lost six straight games away from home. Therefore it was quite a shock for Stranraer to leave Bayview with three points. Spearheading the Stranraer attack was Armand One, the Frenchman is in second spell at the Blues having played at five other SFL clubs. There is no polite way of putting this, but One does not have the physique that one would expect of a footballer – he carries a lot of lumber, which may be the reason why he was substituted after 60 minutes. His size might also explain why he wears the no.19 shirt as the usual shirts may have been a little tight on the striker’s body.

Stranraer scored the game’s only goal in the 34^th minute when East Fife failed to deal with a looping Robert Love ball allowing Craig Malcolm to delicately lob the ball into the net. One of those goals that appears to be happening in slow motion.

The second half belonged to East Fife who dominated proceedings without managing to find the back of the net. Stranraer’s back four held up well against the pressure and East Fife’s inability to get players on the overlap and pass crisply meant they finished the game empty handed.