East Fife unlucky not to come away with a win at Alloa Athletic in Premier Sports Cup

Unfortunately, their lack of cutting edge proved costly, as Alloa Athletic managed to hold firm for a 0-0 draw in the Premier Sports Cup, despite the Fifers being the better of the two sides.

And that result leaves East Fife with four points after two games, and still sat cushty at the top of Group F, despite having played a game more than second place St Johnstone.

The Methil Milan started the game at 100 miles an hour, causing real bother in the first half minutes.

Nathan Austin had a huge opportunity blocked by PJ Morrison, and Alan Trouten rattled the post, both within the opening quarter of an hour.

The vast majority of the game was played on the front foot, with the Wasps not able to deal with the Fifers press, and in particular, Reis Peggie and Liam Newton’s respective energy and prowess.

Nathan Austin had the last real chance of the half, as he hit an absolute rocket of a free kick, which whistled over the cross bar, just and no more.

That brought an end to the action, in the first half, where East Fife looked more than comfortable.

The second half started with some pressure from Alloa, though nothing too dangerous, as the Wasps failed to challenge Liam McFarlane all night.

The chance of the game came just before the hour mark, when Liam Newton dinked a fantastic ball into the back stick for Nathan Austin, who nodded it down fantastically to the bottom right of the goal.

It was destined for the back of the net, before Morrison made an extraordinary save, tucking it behind for a corner.

That saw an end to the ninety minutes of action, and it became clear that East Fife would need penalties to separate the sides.

The penalty shootout started disappointingly for the Fifers, as Andy Munro’s penalty was saved by PJ Morrison. Despite Murdoch, Shepard and McManus all converting, it was not enough, due to Alloa’s perfect accuracy.