Having missed our last two games (Spain was fine but ah have tae say ah'd rather have been at the fuba), ah was fair champin' at the bit to get back tae Methil the day. And with today's visitors being the only team to have beaten us on league business this season, it was with a fair amount of anticipation that I made my way to a chilly Bayview just before three o'clock; it was going to be interesting to see if this mob could play on real grass instead of that plastic abomination up in Montrose.

As it turned out, they wurnae as bad as ah thought they'd be. The Fife started the game looking just a little jaded and seemed, for some reason, to be lacking a bit in confidence. The Gable Endies appeared to sense our trepidation and in the early stages had plenty of possession. Granted, they didn't do a whole lot with the ball but it was enough tae get their fans noised up - well as noised up as fourteen overweight Taysiders (one with a hump-back and a limp, two more with emphysema) can get.

It's always encouraging to see the good side of our fellow fans so it was simply wonderful to witness those same fourteen fans, late in the game, turning on the wee gang of weans (fae the same class at school as the Fife mascot today) and hurling all sorts of offensive abuse at them. The bairns' crime - to sing, "We're top o' the league an' you're no'.". Maybe Montrose should rethink whether they want that kind of support to follow the team - fuckin' scum!

As it happened, that shower of tossers was quietened just before the half hour mark. We'd slowly fought our way into the game and by now were enjoying a fair amount of possession of our own. We were awarded a free kick just outside their box when Young (think it was Lloyd, anyway) was clumsily brought down by their bampot of a right back. Fozzie calmly placed the ball, run up and fired a cracking shot round their wall. I didn't get a clear view from where I was but was happy to see the ball finish up in the Montrose net.

The croaky old voice of the guy who's taking over from Cazza while she's in Oz announced that Bobby Linn had gotten the last touch to open the scoring. My mate, Keith, sent me a text to say that SKY Sports were crediting it to Fozzie and Sunday's papers say it came off a defender.... Whoever it was, it was good enough for me - one-nil tae the Fife and on our way again!

That knocked the stuffing out of Montrose and we took full advantage as we continued to push forward. We were now back to our best with some slick passing and confident possession. It was somewhat surprising, therefore, that it took us until three minutes before the break to double our lead - and even that came from some tragic defending by our visitors. Man of the match, Bobby Linn, easily sneaked the ball away from Neil Stephens and slid it through for Paul McManus who blithely blasted the ball high into the net. Points won and my prediction league numbers (four nil for us...) looking more and more like coming to fruition.

As the darkness descended, we kicked off (four o'clock, pitch dark and freezin' cold - don't you just love winter fitba'?) the second half, looking to add to our lead. Within five minutes we'd seen plenty to warm the cockles with both Linn and McManus coming close - only the heroics of the Montrose keeper stopped us from doubling our lead. Ten weeks ago the bastard seemed more content in trying to chib us aw wi' the ball; today the fucker was concentrating on being a goalkeeper. And, by hell, he's no' bad! If it hadn't been for him, this one would have finished up lookin' like a cricket score.

Despite the fact that they battled on creditably, the Fife dominated throughout and created chance after chance. Mark Peat continued to play well between the sticks but, if truth be told, we were also guilty of some sloppy finishing. On a number of occasions we beat their offside trap but a combination of poor positional play and some dodgy efforts in front of goal meant that we had to be satisfied with the two goal lead. In any case, the way that McManus has been playing this season, I don't suppose we've got much justification in moaning about the fact that he only scored one today....

With twenty minutes remaining we had another chance to add to our lead. Ryan Blackadder (hard working shift overall but needs tae just do the simple stuff well....) fired over a corner from the stand side. With their defence posted absent, Steven Tweed was left free and rose to head the ball goalwards only to see it rattle off the cross bar. It wasn't the easiest chance we had in the second half but certainly looked the best. The big defender was unlucky not to add to our lead. He needn't have worried, mind - once again he and Smart combined at the centre of our defence and put in great shifts. We might have conceded a couple in our last two games but against third division opposition, we still haven't lost a goal in over two months. And that's surely testimony to all of the guys at the back!

With time running out and Montrose looking nothing more than a beaten team it was time for the three dozen weans fae Blah-di-blah Primary School tae start havin' a bit of fun wi' the visiting supporters. Childish, high pitched, good natured banter; the kind of stuff that always makes you smile, no matter how cynical an old hack you are. However, the Montrose fans seemed tae take it as some kind of personal insult. As their team fell tae bits on the park they decided to vent their spleen by hurling x-rated insults at the under tens in the home stand. Which, of course, didnae detract from the pleasure of grabbing another three points in our championship campaign but did show just what a load of lowlife fuckers follow Montrose FC on their road trips.

The ref blew the final whistle, the team took the applause from the stand - pleased to see that all the weans were unaffected by their ordeal and cheered in the boys with vigour and glea and Cazza was given a perfect gift before she headed off for Australia. By the time that we're facing up to Brechin on Wednesday, she should just about have arrive at her sister's hoose. Let's hope she has a grand time and that by the time she's back in the new year, we'll be another twenty points along the road to tying up the league title. C'mon the Fife - see you all on Wednesday!

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