East Fife 0-1 Alloa Athletic – Match Report by Oli Anderson
🏆William Hill League 1
📍MGM Timber Bayview Stadium
🗓️Saturday 9th August | Kick-off: 3:00pm

East Fife fell 1-0 to Alloa Athletic at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium on Saturday making it two defeats from the opening two league games. Despite a much-improved performance from Dick Campbell’s men, they could not take their chances and paid the ultimate price as the Wasps scored late to snatch the three points out of the Kingdom.

The Fifers controlled a large portion of the first half in terms of both possession and chances but couldn’t convert any of them. On top of this, Alloa could possibly have had a man dismissed, when former Fife goalkeeper Liam McFerlane crashed into an East Fife attacker outside of the box, in a last man challenge. The referee deemed it was no more than a yellow card though and play resumed.

McFarlane was probably the difference maker in the first half, as Rob Jones and Alan Trouten both had golden opportunities which were denied by the Scotland U21s International.

In the second half, Alan Trouten missed the chance of the game, as he fired over the bar from scoring range. That was the turning point in the contest, as East Fife had a grip on the match, and the missed chances saw the three points slip through their fingers.

Alloa Athletic would shortly after take the lead when David Devine would answer a cross at the back post which no one else could get near.

The Wasps saw the game out, now taking six points from six in the league, and making it their sixth competitive win in a row.

Man of the Match: Rob Jones

A much-improved performance from the Fifers on Saturday, and East Fife’s Jones played a big part in that, particularly considering he stepped up at short notice replacing Tommy Goss in the starting line-up. Should we keep up that level of performance, there is no reason why East Fife will not be climbing the table in due course.

East Fife – Trialist, Munro, Easton (Norey 46’), McLeod, McManus, Millar (Nicol 87’), Latona, Newton, Trouten, Austin, Jones (Peggie 87’). Subs not used: Bah, Slattery, Goss, Thomson, Gordon.

Alloa Athletic – McFarlane, Waters, Devine, McKay (Church 66’), O’Donnell (Orsi 54’), Roberts, Foster, Scougall, Buchannan, Hetherington, Rankin (Sammon 66’). Subs not used: Ogayi, Graham, Mullen, Donnelly, Clarke, Bruin.

Referee – Alastair Grieve

Attendance – 763