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.

Ground 10: Palmerston Park

The teams-line up at Palmerston Park, home of Queen of the South, the only football team to make an appearance in the Bible (Matthew 12:42)

Game: Queen of the South 1 v 0 East Fife

Date: 28^th October 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 2

Attendance: 1577

Admission: £15

Programme: £2.50

Another day, another game was the motto for this weekend – as Dumfries marked my third game in three days. A two hour drive from Edinburgh to Dumfries via a quick stop for lunch in Moffat meant we arrived at Palmerston Park just twenty minutes before kick-off. Queen of the South’s home ground is only a few minutes away from Dumfries town centre near the Glasgow road.

The first thing to say about Palmerston is that it’s a great old fashioned ground that’s full of charm. I attended the game with my Dad again, who hadn’t been to Palmerston before either. We entered through the modern far-side stand but it was the covered terracing behind the goal that caught our attention and it looked to be perfect for viewing today’s encounter.

East Fife were the visitors to high-flying Queen of the South, who were relegated to the Second Division last season. They changed their personnel by appointing ex-Hearts hero Allan Johnstone as their manager and his impact has been felt immediately with strong performances in the league and cups.

There wasn’t a big travelling East Fife support for this Sunday afternoon game, which was disappointing. What wasn’t disappointing was the old school feel of the Palmerston atmosphere which was aided by someone waving a rattle in our stand – fantastic stuff.

Queen of the South, dominating in the league, continued the rich vein of form they are in by taking the lead within four minutes – Derek Lyle headed in from a corner. From that moment on Queens had control of the game and the goals could have rained in if had it not been for on-loan from Hibs keeper Callum Antell in the East Fife goal. He denied several chances, including a point-blank effort on the 35^th minute.

Our home for the 90 minutes and very welcoming it was too

Half-time came around and we treated ourselves to a pie each which were fantastic. There was nothing about Palmerston that was disappointing!

The second half was very much the same as the first – with Queen of the South the much better side but struggling to press home their advantage. Truth be told, East Fife, although not a bad team looked like they wouldn’t score if we played all night. Queens will be disappointed to not have put further goals past Antell.

At the end of the game the tannoy announced that ticket holders would be given free admission to the ice hockey in the rink nearby for the game that evening. A good initiative from the Doonhammers, but sadly we had a two hour drive ahead of us in the Dumfriesshire darkness and decided to give it a miss.

A first visit to Dumfries but I’m going to ensure that it won’t be my last.