Preview Peterhead

Dunfermline Athletic travel north to Peterhead this Saturday for their first league match there.

It is not the Fifers first visit to the Balmoor Stadium in competitive action since the sides did meet there in League Cup.

Peterhead and fellow Highland League side Elgin City were admitted into the Scottish League for season 2000-2001 as a consequence of the SPL expanding. That League Cup match was on 5th August 2008 when Jim McIntyre's Pars won 2-0 at the Balmoor Stadium thanks to goals early in the second half from Nick Phinn and Andy Kirk.

The Last Game
Dunfermline secured a comfortable Scottish League One win over Peterhead, greatly assisted by the opposition's indiscipline. The visitors finished the match with eight men. James Redman saw red after 16 minutes when he scythed down Dunfermline's Joshua Falkingham and Steven Noble and Jordon Brown were both dismissed after a mass brawl shortly before the break. Falkingham fired the opener, Gozie Ugwu poked home the second before James Thomas smashed in a late third on his the Pars debut.

Previous Meeting at Balmoor Stadium

PETERHEAD: Mikel Kula, Davie Donald, Bobby Mann, Martin Skinner (Callum MacDonald 54), Daniel Moore; Neil McVitie, Graeme Sharp, Craig Gunn (Davie Ross, 70), Martin Bavidge, Stuart Anderson (Donnie Munro 54), Stuart McKay.
SUBS: Dean Cowie, Paul Jarvie (GK)

DUNFERMLINE: Paul Gallacher; Greg Shields, Scott Wilson (c) (Calum Woods 65), Scott Thomson, Austin McCann; Kevin Harper, Nick Phinn (Graeme Holmes 73), Stephen Glass, Alex Burke; Andy Kirk (Iain Williamson 79), Graham Bayne.
SUBS: Scott Muirhead, Callum Reidford

League Stats

A home win would take Peterhead to within two points of Dunfermline since only five points separate second from seventh in League One.

Peterhead have recorded only three wins since August - against Ayr United and twice versus Stenhousemuir.  They were knocked out of the Scottish Cup last Saturday by the Pars opposition in the next round, Stranraer. The Pars have won six of their last nine matches and away from home have lost two of their five league matches - at Forfar and Morton.

Last Time Out

DUNFERMLINE (v East Stirlingshire): Ryan Scully; Ross Millen, Gregor Buchanan, Stuart Urquhart, Alex Whittle; Shaun Byrne, Lewis Spence, Andy Geggan (c), Ross Forbes (Ryan Thomson 78); Faissal El Bakhtaoui (James Thomas 72), Michael Moffat (Chigozie Ugwu 72)
SUBS NOT USED: Andy Stirling, Allan Smith, Ryan Williamson, Ryan Goodfellow

PETERHEAD (v Stranraer): Graeme Smith; Reece Donaldson, Scott Ross, Ross Smith (Andy Rodgers 71), James Redman; Ryan Strachan, Jamie Stevenson, Millar (Bryan Gilfillan 80), Steven Noble (Jordan Brown 88), Rory McAllister, Micky Riley
SUBS NOT USED: Paul Jarvie (GK), Ewan Richardson.

Peterhead's top goalscorer with five league goals this season is Rory McAllister. The former Inverness and Brechin striker has now made over 100 league starts for the Blue Toon and has scored 81 goals for the club. Twenty year old defender Reece Donaldson made 46 appearances for Raith Rovers before moving north for last season but he was sent off in last Saturday's Scottish Cup tie against Stranraer for violent conduct so will miss the game. Jamie Stevenson joined Peterhead from Cowdenbeath after appearing against the Pars in last season's play off final.

Referee will be Calum Murray who has not officiated a Pars match since the 5-1 defeat at Firhill exactly two years ago.

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