Bayview Stadium, Home of East Fife FC: Supporting The Cookie Jar Foundation and CLEAR

Our sixth charity match took us to Bayview Stadium, the home of East Fife FC. For the last day in November we could not have asked for better weather. Sunshine and 12 degrees made it a perfect afternoon for football. As always, a huge thanks to Celsius Plumbing and Heating for their support and for helping us create days like this.

The match itself was a thriller from start to finish. The Yellow team burst out of the blocks and raced into a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes. Dirk Otway played a lovely through ball for Jon McGraw to open the scoring. A defensive mix up then left Richard Rintoul with a simple header into an empty net. Moments later Robbie Simpson danced past a defender and squared for Otway, who made it three with a calm finish.

The Blues were not finished though. Kyle Boggie dug out a brilliant cross to the back post, where Callum Sneddon met it bravely to make it 3-1. Minutes later Boggie pounced on a loose defensive pass and rolled the ball past the keeper for 3-2. The Yellows hit back right away, with McGraw delivering a perfect cross that Otway headed home for 4-2.

The goal of the day came just before half time. David Donald intercepted a pass and knocked it to Andy Hamilton, who unleashed a thunderbolt from 25 yards into the top corner. A stunning strike that made it 4-3 at the break.

The second half belonged to the Blues. Daz Cain picked out Donald at the back post, who looped a great header over the keeper for 4-4. Cain then set up David Aitkenhead, whose low shot squeezed under the keeper to give the Blues their first lead at 5-4. Boggie soon made it 6-4, stealing the ball high up the pitch and smashing it past the keeper.

The Yellows kept pushing and pulled one back when Otway cut the ball back for Mark McLeod, who finished well from the edge of the box. The final goal came late on as Hamilton threaded a clever pass through for Boggie, who finished with real composure to complete his hat trick and wrap up a breathless 7-5 win for the Blue team.

This match also carried real meaning off the pitch. We raised £662 in total and split the donations between two brilliant local charities. The Cookie Jar Foundation and CLEAR both received £331 each. CLEAR do fantastic work in the communities around Bayview and it felt right to support a group that means so much to the area we played in. The Cookie Jar Foundation is another charity we are proud to back. Their work is inspiring and it was amazing to hear that our donation will help fund a new vein finder for Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy next year. Knowing our games contribute to things like this makes what we do even more worthwhile.

Highlight of the Match

Andy Hamilton’s thunderbolt from 25 yards. A strike worthy of any stadium.

Amount Raised: £662

SQUADS

SAMBA YELLOW Paul McPherson's Team

Calum Brockway

Ross Brown (GK)

Kris Burns

Alex Cameron

Barry Chambers

Craig Darge

Stevie Finlayson

Jon McGraw ⚽🅰

Mark McLeod ⚽

Paul McPherson

Dirk Otway ⚽⚽🅰🅰

Richard Rintoul (C) ⚽

Robbie Simpson 🅰

SAMBA BLUE

Steven Buckley’s Team

David Aitken ⚽

Kyle Boggie ⚽⚽⚽🅰

Stevie Buckley

Daz Cain (C) 🅰🅰

Johnny Cairns

Stuart Chambers

David Donald ⚽🅰

James Ebbs (GK)

Kev Fettes

Andy Hamilton ⚽🅰

Graeme Nisbet

Darren Rintoul

Callum Sneddon ⚽

Scott Thomson