IT WAS a fitting end to a doomed tenure. An all too familiar story as ten-man Alloa loose at home, finding themselves deeper in a relegation battle.

Alloa hosted bottom of the table side East Fife at the Indodrill Stadium on Saturday in a must-win match for the Wasps League One survival.

Going into the match, it was clear that Barry Ferguson and his side would need a better result than last time the two sides met as they drew 1-1, with Craig Howie sent off back on December 4.

And with the pressure mounting on the manager to turn things around, this game seemed pivotal. And so it proved.

Ferguson had made three changes to the team that lost 3-0 to Falkirk in an abysmal mid-week performance as Stefan Scougall, Andy Graham and Kevin Cawley replaced Fernandy Mendy, Conor Sammon and Steven Boyd in the starting line-up.

Alloa began the game brightly and won an early corner which Scougall delivered a lovely curling cross that was met by the powerful head of Mark Durnan as he sent the ball into the top right-hand corner.

The perfect start for Alloa as they were 1-0 up in less than three minutes, but it was the only highlight in what would be one of their lowest points this season.

With East Fife chasing the game the visitors had the better chances going forward and it wasn't too long until they equalised.

With 10 minutes left in the first half East Fife were awarded a free kick in a decent area – the ball was floated in by Ryan Blair, and Aaron Steele attempted to get in front of Durnan who put his arm out and caught Steele's face.

The penalty was awarded for East Fife, and it was a disappointing one to concede for Alloa as the contact seemed minimal, but the referee decided otherwise.

Ryan Wallace stepped up for the visitors and calmly put it past David Hutton who went the wrong way.

Just minutes before the restart Alloa's day went from bad to worse as a routine back pass from Graham was picked up from Hutton. A complete lapse in judgment from the veteran goalkeeper who chose to use his hands instead of clearing the ball with his boot meant that East Fife were awarded an indirect free kick in Alloa's box.

A clever pass to the left from the free kick found Kyle Connell in the six-yard box who snuck the ball past the Alloa defence as they charged down the ball from the goal line.

And so it was 2-1 at half time and the Indodrill Stadium resonated with boos from the home fans.

Still, things can always get worse for Alloa this season. With just three minutes played in the second half Alloa saw their sixth red card of the season as Euan Henderson was sent off.

The on loan Hearts youngster Henderson attempted to get on the end of a cross only to mistimed his lunge and ended up kicking East Fife keeper Jude Smith in the face.

With Smith's face bleeding referee Steven Kirkland had no choice but to send off Henderson who will be a big loss for Alloa's next match against Dumbarton.

Despite going down to ten men Alloa were still searching for an equaliser and the closest they got was from a diving header from Cawley and a free kick from Boyd that both failed to hit the target.

With ten minutes left on the clock East Fife put the game to rest as they hit Alloa on the counter-attack with a quick and clinical move which was coolly finished off by Danny Denholm.

The match ended 3-1 to East Fife. With back-to-back poor performances from Alloa they find themselves in real trouble as just one point separates them and Peterhead who are in the relegation play-off spot but have two games in hand.

The Wasps hopeful return to the Championship next season has now become a distant dream. With the Barry Ferguson era now over, the board will hoping to find someone capable to righting the ship once more.

At ten points behind fourth, a late charge is not unfathomable with 11 games still to play for Alloa... However, it is unrealistic.

Their next match against Dumbarton is a must win for Alloa, as The Sons one point ahead of them.

But The Wasps will be without their top goal scorer Henderson and potentially Sammon due to injury leaving Ben Armour as there only forward option.

ALLOA: Hutton, Graham, Durnan, Taggart, Church, King (Armour), Riley-Snow (Robertson), Niang (O'Donnell), Scougall (Boyd), Henderson, Cawely. UNUSED: Burt, Howie, Mendy, Armstrong.