This 2-1 defeat was a blow to Stenhousemuir's aspirations of coming out of the best of the rest in the third division.
The worrying sign for manager Des McKeown was that the Fifers did not have to try too hard to get their goals.
East Fife's first goal came after three minutes when Stenhousemuir gave the ball away cheaply and John Boyle flipped in a cross for Greig McDonald to head home through William McCulloch's legs.
Stenhousemuir came close to equalising in the 16th minute when a Paul Murphy header was touched on to the post by Scott Morrison, but this was the only time that the Fifers defence was troubled in the first half.
East Fife were the more potent side, and Stevie Nicholas put them two goals ahead when he latched on to a wayward Steven McGregor header and steered the ball into the net.
In the second half the Warriors reduced the lead when 17-year-old Tommy Sinclair intercepted a poor pass back by Gary Kelly and scored from close range. East Fife keeper Scott Morrison was injured trying to prevent the goal, but his replacement John McCafferty, making his debut, was the star of the show as he kept a level head and dealt with anything that the Warriors threw at him.