Match Report | East Fife v Alloa Athletic – Saturday 28th February 2026

East Fife 0-2 Alloa Athletic – Match Report by Oli Anderson
🏆William Hill League 1
📍MGM Timber Bayview Stadium
🗓️Saturday 28th February 2026 | Kick-off: 3:00pm

East Fife fell 2-0 to Alloa Athletic at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium on Saturday. An early strike from Burnside handed East Fife the worst possible start, and the nail in the coffin came just after an hour when Dewar put the game beyond doubt.

A litter of errors starting from the middle of the park allowed Alloa to dance through the box and fire past Adams after less than a minute of action. While the finish was tidy, the defending from East Fife was very disappointing, to say the least.

East Fife could have retreated further into their shells, and rolled over after such a poor start, although it should be noted that they rolled their sleeves up and weathered the storm which came after, and eventually started advancing up the park themselves.

Jack Healy was the man who had the shots for East Fife, but they were all from range with Alloa Athletic defending resolutely. His two notable shots were just off target, though they had the Fife fans off their seats.

After half an hour, East Fife had their best chance of the half, when Healy whipped his ball into a dangerous area, Michael McKenna answered, though ex-Fifer Liam McFarlane was equal to it, blocking the shot on the line.

McKenna had a dig from range with five minutes to go at the end of the first half, but it was a very comfortable save. Culbert had a shot two minutes later too, which couldn’t beat the goalkeeper.

If truth be told, the Fifers fell flat in the second half and weren’t able to cause any real threat to Alloa.

On the hour mark, Oladipo had a dig on the spin, but he wasn’t able to keep his effort down. Dewar then killed the game after 66 minutes, as he headed past Adams from a corner kick.

With 20 minutes to go, Nathan Austin made his return to the squad missing out through injury in recent weeks. His first touch was a shot, which rattled off the post, as he managed to get on the end of Reis Peggie’s cross.

In the dying embers, Omar Harek had a shot, which was cleared off the line, allowing Alloa to keep their clean sheet intact.

Speaking with East Fife TV after the game, an irate Dick Campbell expressed his disappointment: “We lose a goal inside a minute, which was very, very easy. Our players go out to warm up before the game, but a warm-up is not just physical, it is also mental. After the goal, we start to build up the play, and we held more of the ball in the first half though we don’t create a lot. The second half was baffling, it was like a light switch was flipped.”

East Fife have a crucial fortnight ahead, facing Hamilton at home next week, before travelling to the west of Fife to play Kelty Hearts, results from these games could save East Fife’s season, though should results go against them it will be a nervy close to the campaign for Dick Campbell’s men.

East Fife – Adams, Munro, Easton, Bah, Peggie (Slattery 83’), Healy (Rowe 83’), Millar, Latona (Gaffney 75’), McKenna, Oladipo (Austin 70’), Culbert (Harek 83’). Subs not used: Hemfrey, Halsey, Halliday, Fairley.

Alloa Athletic – McFarlane, Dewar, Tagger, Burnside, Adamson (Buchanan 83’), O’Donnell, Roberts, Foster, Hetherington, Stewart (Clarke 83’), Donnelly (Sammon 72’). Subs not used: Gallagher, Ogayi, Waters, Rankin.

Referee – Lewis Hogarth

Attendance – 602