‘Creative play’ pays off for East Fife

ALLOA 1 EAST FIFE 3

Stevie Crawford was delighted to see his East Fife side display all the battling qualities they’ll need to escape the bottom of League One.

The Fifers recorded their first win since October over the Wasps to spark new life into their safety ambitions.

It was a win they fully merited, goals from Ryan Wallace, Kyle Connell and Danny Denholm enough to secure the win, despite Mark Durnan’s early opener.

There may be a sixpoint gap between East Fife and ninth place, but Crawford reckons his team are hitting form at just the right time.

He said: “When you go a goal behind in a couple of minutes after not scoring for six games, you think the world’s against you.

“But I was delighted with the response.

“Alloa were unfortunate and could have scored another from a set-play but the boys never felt sorry for themselves.

“We were inventive in our attacking play.

“In my analysis, when I’ve been talking to the boys, I’ve been saying about being creative and playing that pass at the right time.

“That was evident in our second and third goals. We have enough games to get ourselves out of the position we find ourselves and the boys will take confidence from scoring goals.”

East Fife took a while to settle into the game, with the home side enjoying large periods in possession.

It started to get a bit nervy towards the end of the match as the Fifers sensed a muchneeded three points were there for the taking.

Those nerves were settled with just under 10 minutes to go, though, when Denholm finished off a sweeping move up the park.