League leaders Stenhousemuir eventually won this game, but it was in the main an unconvincing performance by the Ochilview side.
The Warriors started the game in positive fashion and created several good opportunities in the early stages with the closest attempt coming from Colin Cramb, who had a header cleared off the line by Kevin Bain.
Eventually their efforts were rewarded after 16 minutes when a Paul Murphy shot was steered into the net by Iain Diack.
After this, their play became rather lax and this allowed East Fife back into the game. With ex-Warrior Joe Savage causing problems for the Stenhousemuir rearguard, it looked as if it was only a matter of time before parity was restored, and another ex-Warrior, John Bradford, eventually equalised when he side-footed the ball into the net after Savage had seized on a defensive slip-up.
The Fifers took heart from this and were creating the better chances for most of the early stages of the second period, but Savage and Bradford squandered good goal-scoring opportunities.
The introduction of David Templeton in the home ranks was the catalyst in kick- starting the home side. His first touch was a superbly-executed shot that John Dodds somehow managed to tip over the bar.
From the corner, the ball was cleared out to the edge of the box where 18-year-old Tommy Sinclair was waiting, and he thundered a shot past Dodds and into the net.
With three minutes left Bradford looked to have secured a share of the points with a well-placed shot.
The Warriors reacted positively to this setback and went back into attacking mode. Templeton scored after a scramble, and with the game moving into stoppage time he secured all three points with a stunning run before coolly placing the ball into the net.
This game capped a fine week by the youngster, who had in the last seven days scored three times for the Scotland Under-17's in three separate games.