The King is dead; long live the King! Ah'd hoped tae have been able tae use a headline somethin' like that after the Craw's first outing in charge of the Fife. Sadly, in spite of the change of personnel at the top, it was, simply and straightforwardly, a case of plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose... Dave Baikie might have left us but if we thought his departure would be some kind of cure all we were sadly mistaken. Crawford's just a man, not a magical panacea. Whatever's wrong with the team will take more than a change of hand writing on the team leet.

Ah'm loath tae criticise any of the players; they continue to work hard and try their very best week in, week out. However, it's apparent that, deep inside, they've all been pretty resigned for weeks that the season's over, the summer holidays are on the horizon and that, on the park, we're just going through the motions. It all started brightly enough but as soon as the Wasps took the lead this afternoon, the heads went down and the result was already determined.

It should have been so different. Alloa have struggled in all three of our previous encounters this season and when you saw the line-up that would be facing them in Crawford's first match in charge, there was no reason to believe that there'd be anything other than another comfortable victory. If anything, their recent form has been even worse than ours (ok, granted, that's stretching it a bit – but you know what I mean).

With big Temps not even fit enough for a start on the bench, it was up to Shagger and the Boaby to provide out attacking options. But they'd be ably assisted by as strong a midfield quartet as we've fielded all season – Young, Stewart, Fagan (two games on the bounce – a new record??) and Makel looked a perfect combination of youth, experience, pace and psychotic head-nutterness to take control and keep the forwards supplied all afternoon.

Ah was also encouraged tae see a couple of the youngsters on the bench – whether Jordyn Sheerin and Stuart Cargill would've gotten the call with everyone else fully fit is moot; the fact is that both would make their home debuts today and, in spite of the helpless task in front of them when they came on, were to acquit themselves well.

Their adventures were for the future, however. In the meantime we had a game of football to win. In cloudy but bright conditions we kicked off and, in the opening skirmishes, performed reasonably enough. It was obvious that both sides were lacking in confidence and, at times, eschewed any real quality but while we kept the ball to feet we looked efficient enough – certainly some passes went astray but we still had the upper hand.

As early as the opening minute we created our first chance of the afternoon, Paul McManus getting onto the end of a cracking pass by the Fozzmeister. Unlike last week, however, the striker wasn't nearly so convincing in his run and the Wasps' keeper was able to parry the ball. It was a great opening, mind, and would surely give us the mettle to reassure ourselves that we had it in us to dominate our visitors.

They were still taking time to settle (no doubt down to the fact that they never get tae play fitba on such a decent surface) so we continued to play some attractive (well... we didnae look as bad as in recent weeks) passing football in an attempt to break them down. To be fair, mind, their two big gawky centre halfs wurnae exactly having too hard a time. Linn had a free role and was jookin' about all over the place but their defence looked well organised and coped with the pacey wee guy's runs well enough.

We had a shout for a penalty, however, when a shot from the edge of the box appeared to blooter off Chris Townsley's arm but the ref was right there looking straight at it so, inevitably, he waved play on. To be fair to the defender… even if he hadn't gotten in the way, ah'm guessin' that the ball would have ended up in the car park rather than the net. But then, mebbe that's all the more reason why the spot-kick should have been awarded. (How fuckin' desperate do we get when the team's no' performing, eh?).

But nothing could prepare us for the desperation that we felt midway through the half. The Wasps had slowly settled but had so far posed little in front of Brown's goal. All that changed on twenty minutes. Nineteen year old Gary Carroll was marking his debut with a fine performance and put the icing on the cake when he picked up the ball in midfield and headed forward with purpose. Showing a composure far beyond his years, he slid a perfectly weighted pass through the channel to Stuart Noble who didn't even have to break his stride. He met the ball at the edge of the box, shimmied past the Fozz and bulleted it into the corner of the net. A real pisser but also a top quality finish!

The away end erupted into a maelstrom of noise and emotion. Ok, ok - the Alloa fans made as much of a rammy as three dozen daft bastards can. But well done them – there hadnae been an awful lot coming out of the sadly depleted home end so far.

Conceding the goal had exactly the same effect on our heroes as we've come to expect in recent weeks. For a few minutes they looked completely shell-shocked. Unfortunately, that gave our visitors the perfect opening to move up the park and try to add to their lead. Still fighting to avoid the relegation play-offs, they weren't gonnae waste this chance to bag three precious points. They pushed forward, full of determination and before the half hour mark had doubled their lead – this time from the penalty spot.

It was yer archetypal 'unstoppable force meeting an immoveable object'. Brown Ferguson (a lad so hefty that he has two second names) piled into the box, forsaking all reason, and was clobbered by the behemoth that is Kevin Fotheringham. The forward went flying, the Fozz tried to make himself look invisible and the ref nearly choked on his whistle blowing for the spot kick. Andy Scott had no concerns, sending Broonie the wrong way and slotting the ball low into the corner of the net.

The Wasps grew in stature, realising that the victory today would almost certainly mean second division football again next season. In contrast, the Fife team appeared completely shot tae fuck... and somewhat unaware that it's still no' completely beyond the realms of possibility that we might end up in that dog fight at the bottom of the table ourselves.

The only response for the remaining minutes of the first half was an unattractive dose of lumpin' the ball high up the park at every opportunity. With only McManus and Linn upfield, it was a forlorn sight watching them consistently beaten by the two towering defenders they were up against. Alloa grew in confidence and were miles better, first to virtually every ball and soon were bossing the game in the middle of the park too. When the ref finally blew for half time, it was a weary looking East Fife side that trudged off the park. For the fans, we were just relieved that we hadn't lost any more goals.

The lads ran out for the second half with what looked like a skip in their step but, alas, it took less than five minutes for Alloa to show that they were in no mood to let their lead go. Noble had already proved tae be a right pain in the arse; we weren't gonna have much success stopping him in the second half either. But for Brown's outstanding save, this one could have been out of sight with forty minutes still to go.

Sadly, the keeper's heroics did little to inspire his team mates. We slowly settled and tried to play decent football. Time and time again, however, we were foiled by straightforward, hard working defending by the Wasps. They weren't getting forward with quite the same ease but they were finding it an undemanding job to pick us off in the middle of the park and protect their keeper from any real danger.

It was encouraging, however, that Crawford realised early on that changes needed to be made. Lloyd Young had put in a decent shift but had found it difficult throughout and was replaced by young Jordyn Sheerin just ten minutes in. The youngster was making his home league debut but appeared completely unfazed by his promotion to the first team and was soon in the thick of the action. He's not the tallest of lads but seems to have filled out (or bulked-up if yer feeling ungracious) and was soon mixing it in the Alloa box and, finally, giving their defenders something to think about.

He's obviously full of confidence too as he took every opportunity he could to fire a shot at goal. He was unfortunate not to trouble the Wasps' goalie but such self belief surely augurs well for the future. In a team that had long since conceded defeat, it was encouraging to see one of the kids at least having a go. And so, in spite of only getting half an hour, he did enough in my eyes at least tae bag the man of the match plaudits this week.

Twenty five minutes from time, he was joined by another one of our young guns, Stuart Cargill, who replaced Bobby Linn and took a position out on the left wing. He also made a promising start to his East Fife career, combining well with Dougie C, Lee Makel and Shaun Fagan, and appearing to settle in nicely with the big boys. Here's hopin' for the future

The introduction of the two bairns certainly added a little more spice to the encounter – and more than just a little pace. Even if we were never gonna win this one, maybe we could grab a consolation goal. Bebo, Fagan and Lee Makel all made decent attempts from just outside the box without really troubling their keeper but, perhaps Jay Smart was presented with the most clear cut chance of the afternoon, rising high above his marker to meet a Lee Makel corner, only to see his effort go well wide. He'll certainly think that he should have done better. But then, that's just the way things have been going recently – and in any case, it's a bit of cheek hucklin' a centre half about the team no' bein' able tae score...

The game dawdled its way onwards in the spring sunshine but eventually the ref got fed up touchin' up his tan and brought the match to an end. Our heroes made their way up the tunnel, their dejection all too obvious on their faces, while our visitors milked the applause from the wee contingent who'd made their way from Clackmannanshire. The three points will help immensely in their efforts to retain Division Two status and, if we're being honest, their performance today not only merited the victory but proved that they deserve to stay in this league.

Things for the Fife, on the other hand, continue on their painfully weary way. Still three matches to go but fans and players alike are now all just looking forward to the close season. Next week's trip to Ayr will, no doubt, prove to be another tester for the boys - and a double edged sword. A Fife victory against the Honest Men would be a welcome fillip for the team but might inadvertantly hand a huge boost to the Lino Likkers. Ah guess we just have to be hopeful that the form team, Brechin City, can cause an upset at the Piggery while we all get down to the seaside (it's ma home town, y'know....) and get behind the boys.

Aye, it's a sair fecht, boys, an' another tough day oot - but like ah said earlier, the more things change, the more they stay the same. So let's get behind the boys and make some noise... C'mon the Fife!!