Sticking the Preview up early to take the ticket talk off the Kelty topic. I will continue to build the Preview during the week in the build up to this massive game

Is It Coming Home?

With the prospect of a title winning celebration happening this weekend, a big crowd is expected at Bayview Stadium, Methil. It's certainly not a formality by any means, however, there is a distinct possibility that something could happen and that will swell the crowd. East Fife have had to review their seating allocation to try and accommodate this surge in ticket sales and we are still waiting for further developments regarding ticket sales as of Monday at 21:00. It did open but sold out quickly and we now await more seating to be released by East Fife. A win for the Caley Jags will secure the title outright regardless of what Stenhousemuir do against Alloa Athletic. A draw might be enough but that depends on Stenhousemuir losing or at worst, drawing, something that is not a common occurrence at Ochilview this season. A defeat for both clubs hands Inverness the title and promotion. Defeat at Bayview takes it to the final day against Accies as long as Stenny get the win, and a draw at Stenny would probably suffice for us given our superior goal difference.

It's all ifs and buts at the moment.

It's only this season that our paths have crossed again after a 27 year hiatus in League games. We did have a League cup win over them in 2020 when Shane Sutherland scored the only goal of the game. We have been pretty dominant this season so far scoring nine goals and conceding one in the first meeting this season in a 4-1 win in the Highlands. Incidentally, our 0-2 away win this season had a crowd of 601. Our overall Head 2 Head meetings with East Fife is good with 10 wins, two defeats and two draws in the 14 fixtures played since we first locked horns in a Scottish Cup tie in 1996. That one ended in a 1-1 draw: A team of volunteers cleared a 2 inch covering of snow to allow this game to go ahead. The first chance fell after 5 minutes to East Fife's Trinidadian Arnold Dwarika but Jim Calder saved his 25 yard drive. Two minutes later Calder touched a Robert Scott shot round the post. Five minutes later lain Stewart had the home fans roaring when he opened the scoring - a long pass from Graeme Bennett found Stewart with a little space on the right edge of the area and he chipped (surprise surprise) the ball over Lindsay Hamilton. It was nearly two in 15 minutes but Richard Hastings 30 yard free kick flew narrowly past the post. The home side had other first half chances through Stewart and Hercher and East Fife came close in 41 minutes when Calder touched away a David Beaton free kick. The home side continued to impress in the second half and had excellent chances through Teasdale and Hercher. In 78 minutes East Fife drew level - Alex Hamill slipped the ball to Dwarika on the right and without breaking stride he curled the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net from 25 yards. Caley Thistle fought back but could not find the net - their best effort was 6 minutes from time when a well timed tackle from John McStay foiled Alan Hercher. The home side were disappointed not to have held on to their lead and East Fife headed south greatly relieved. <Both reports by Ian Broadfoot>

The replay was also drawn 1-1 thanks to an injury time equaliser from Alan Hercher who cancelled out Scott's opener on 75min. A tremendous victory for Caledonian Thistle but only after an injury time equaliser in normal time and the drama of penalty kicks.
The match was played at a furious pace on a wet and windy evening and several hundred Inverness fans witnessed an historic victory. East Fife had the better of the first half as the visitors battled into the gales - the best chances for the home side fell to Mark Donaghy who hit it over the bar in 8 minutes and to player/manager Steve Archibald who did the same from 6 yards in 24 minutes. Caley Thistle dominated the penalty shoot out with the home players clearly very nervous. Iain Stewart, Mike Noble and Daisy Ross all scored for the visitors while East Fifes Allan hit it over the bar, Jim Calder saved from Hope and McStay scored.
At 3-1 Colin Mitchells penalty was saved by Hamilton but the match was over when Hutcheon hit the post. A superb night for Caley Thistle and a place in the last 16 of the Cup.

February 12th, 1996, 7:30 PM at Bayview Park, Methil:

Crowd: 1345

Those were the days with big names like Steve Archibald, Pele, Jim Calder, Iain Stewart

This one is filling up fast. Be there or be square.

⛔ As of Tuesday, our Allocation has been sold out ⛔

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Match/Ticket/Info

DIRECT LINK FOR AWAY TICKETS

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Last 4 games. 3 this season and a L/Cup fixture 2020

3 - 0 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

4 - 1 (H)

1 - 0 (H)

Last Saturday's squad that squeaked through against Kelty Hearts. Paul Allan still claiming the goal but officially it's still an og credited to Alex Ferguson. We seem to be holding strong in the run in with two crucial wins at Peterhead and at home to Kelty after a run of three draws. A third win will see us Promoted as Champions in front of a big crowd at Bayview.

• Last Six League1:

• W D D D W W 

Admission Prices:

o Adults: £20
o Concessions: £16 [Over 65s and full-time students]
o Under 16: £5
o Parent & 1 Child: £23
o Parent & 2 Children: £25

There are no cash turnstiles at Bayview.

Disabled Supporters

Supporters requiring additional assistance should contact East Fife’s Disability Access Officer,
Stephen Mill ([email protected]) in advance of the match.

East Fife are still requiring points to be safe at the bottom end and with Accies having a vastly superior goal difference then every point is a prisoner for the Fifers. After three draws in a row, the last draw being a comeback point from 2-0 down v Stenny, they then lost 1-0 at Montrose but stunned Peterhead with a 2-1 win at Bayview before last weeks 2-0 defeat at Alloa.

• Last Six League1:

• D D D L W L

Nathan Austin helped our cause with the second comeback goal against Stenhousemuir. Sam Culbert on loan from Livingston has been on the scoresheet as well. He's one to watch, as is former Arbroath striker Michael McKenna.

Pos	Team	Pld	Gd	Pts
1	ICTFC	34	35	65
2	Stenny	34	20	61
3	Alloa	34	16	53
4	QotS	34	8	50
5	P'Head	34	-12	43
6	Monty	34	-17	41
7	Cove	34	-5	34
8	E Fife	34	-27	34
9	Accies	34	11	31
10	Kelty	34	-29	26

Okay, got back Sunday morning after an overnighter on a coach back, and left it to today to comment

Overall an enjoyable trip, albeit the match was a bit of a damp squib, fortunately Billy got a terrific goal, which means things are much more in our hands, the simple equation is don't lose, and despite Hamilton being a bit of a bogey team and with something to play for, we have beat them twice this season and at the very least we should want to pay them back for relegating us. And we will be playing on a proper pitch!

And I must say that Bayview pitch was absolutely terrible, a terrible bounce, the ball never held up on the glassy surface at all, maybe it was me, but the pitch looks less wide than Inverness'. The East Fife players were well marshalled and very busy, fair play to them, they often hunted our players down in pairs. We never had time on the ball, and could rarely get the ball under control. [I actually though Longstaff did the best in those close contact situations, but maybe I am in a minority]. People will of course say that this was the same for both teams [and we beat them earlier in the season], but I would argue if you play on that type of pitch regularly, you get to know how to play it.

I understood why we were trying the long ball, to bypass a busy midfield, but we rarely got players close to Zimba who struggled a bit, but without close support this was likely to be the case as we needed to pick up the 2nd ball. I wasn't surprised that East Fife scored, they looked surer footed and the goal was a first touch hit. Would Billy and 'Wothers' fared better if on earlier? Who knows, they obviously had the guile, but also a tiring East Fife started to sit deeper which helped. Billy's goal was a great shot, and from distance [Probably the only way we were going to score on the day]

I am not going to have a go at any player, because everyone of those have done a good job for us over the season. It didn't work on the day, but credit East Fife. As for team selections, does anyone know are best team, but also has the rotation helped minimise injuries this season?

As for Saturday, I reckon Billy will have a say in the result.

Plenty of good points brought up. I also was surprised Longstaff was subbed. He is one of the few whose close control usually sees him hold onto the ball. The surface was an issue as you pointed out. I'm also not sure how many realised the breeze on the park was holding the ball up quite a bit. I'm sure the hosts would be well used to this at Bayview.

I thought our biggest problem was to hold onto the ball in midfield. Credit to East Fife who were up for this game and like Kelty shut us down quickly all over the park. Zimba had a horror show until he popped up with the head flick for Billy. Maybe he should try and stay on his feet more often, that falling over stunt is so predictable and gains us nothing. He is a big lad, but not as solid as the heavyweight boxer East Fife took on later in the game. You won't knock him over in a hurry.

Anyway, still in our own hands but it's just not the scenario we all wanted.

3 hours ago, tm4tj said:

Anyway, still in our own hands but it's just not the scenario we all wanted.

Nail-Clippers already looked out. Don’t think I’ll last out till Saturday before their used.😬

bc

4 hours ago, Eagle4Caley said:

Okay, got back Sunday morning after an overnighter on a coach back, and left it to today to comment

Overall an enjoyable trip, albeit the match was a bit of a damp squib, fortunately Billy got a terrific goal, which means things are much more in our hands, the simple equation is don't lose, and despite Hamilton being a bit of a bogey team and with something to play for, we have beat them twice this season and at the very least we should want to pay them back for relegating us. And we will be playing on a proper pitch!

And I must say that Bayview pitch was absolutely terrible, a terrible bounce, the ball never held up on the glassy surface at all, maybe it was me, but the pitch looks less wide than Inverness'. The East Fife players were well marshalled and very busy, fair play to them, they often hunted our players down in pairs. We never had time on the ball, and could rarely get the ball under control. [I actually though Longstaff did the best in those close contact situations, but maybe I am in a minority]. People will of course say that this was the same for both teams [and we beat them earlier in the season], but I would argue if you play on that type of pitch regularly, you get to know how to play it.

I understood why we were trying the long ball, to bypass a busy midfield, but we rarely got players close to Zimba who struggled a bit, but without close support this was likely to be the case as we needed to pick up the 2nd ball. I wasn't surprised that East Fife scored, they looked surer footed and the goal was a first touch hit. Would Billy and 'Wothers' fared better if on earlier? Who knows, they obviously had the guile, but also a tiring East Fife started to sit deeper which helped. Billy's goal was a great shot, and from distance [Probably the only way we were going to score on the day]

I am not going to have a go at any player, because everyone of those have done a good job for us over the season. It didn't work on the day, but credit East Fife. As for team selections, does anyone know are best team, but also has the rotation helped minimise injuries this season?

As for Saturday, I reckon Billy will have a say in the result.

Good post and surprised that the state of the pitch has only just been brought up. The ball was bobbling across the pitch and you could see the players were struggling to get it under control and play the way they normally do. The pitch needed water to make the ball move quicker but I suspect it suited East Fife to stop us playing quickly hence why it was left dry. The frustration on Saturday was that the coaching staff didn't adapt to this and whilst many are saying there were too many aimless passes up the pitch, I actually felt we persisted with our normal passing style for too long which meant the likes of Allan, Stewart & McLeod couldn't dictate play the way they normally do and were often caught out with poor touches or slack passes. We should have gone more direct, playing off Zimba and Alonge and pushed the midfield higher up the pitch to play off second balls. All in all, a frustrating and disappointing afternoon.

On 4/26/2026 at 6:22 PM, Starscape said:

I've had this feeling for some time that the play off will be a Highland derby.

My daughter has worked out if county beat the rovers 2-0 and airdrie ( a game airdrie must win) beat Morton 2-0, county and Morton will both be on GD - 18 and 37 points.

What happens then.

Morton will be 35 goals for and county 36 goals for. Or do they then check the 4 games they have played against each other.

10 minutes ago, bishbashbosh said:

My daughter has worked out if county beat the rovers 2-0 and airdrie ( a game airdrie must win) beat Morton 2-0, county and Morton will both be on GD - 18 and 37 points.

What happens then.

Morton will be 35 goals for and county 36 goals for. Or do they then check the 4 games they have played against each other.

I think (but not 100% certain) it goes to goals scored which would save County