East Fife: push for play-off spot after bright start to 2023

And he’s now looking for more of the same as the fifers look to strengthen their grip on a play-off promotion place when Stenhousemuir visit Bayview this Saturday.

The trip north to Elgin was the Fifers first game since a 2-0 defeat at Dumbarton on Christmas Eve.

But the break over the festive season appears to have done some good, with the Methil men recording their first victory since their last game against Elgin, back in October.

The win at Borough Briggs has moved East Fife back up into fourth place, and McDonald is now keen to see his team string together some positive results to maintain their challenge at the top end of the table.

Speaking about the win at Elgin, the Bayview boss said: “I thought we were bang at it right from the very first whistle.

“I said at the end of the Dumbarton game that the break had maybe come at a good time for us, and I think that proved to be the case – you could see that we had some boys back up to full speed, and a few wee knocks recovered from.

“We’ve also managed to add big Aidan [Quinn], and Aggie [Scott Agnew] as well, and getting Brogan Walls and Rabin Omar back in the squad, I think you saw the boost that gave us, and to be honest I would say I think that’s arguably our best performance of the season.

“When we came here for the first game of the season, we had a really good performance, Bonnyrigg away was obviously very good, but I think that was our best performance.

"On a difficult pitch against an opposition who have been on a good run, and especially off the back of the run we’ve been on as well, not necessarily bad performances, I thought for the lads to go and play the way they did was excellent.

"The only disappointment would be that we didn’t go on to win the game by three or four.”

McDonald spoke highly of the performances of several players in the team.

Stewart Murdoch – who scored a cracking opening goal with a great strike from 20 yards – set the tone for the game, said the manager.

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