IF the alarm bells weren’t ringing down Fort Matilda way before this match then they certainly are now after Wanderers suffered their seventh consecutive BT National League Second Division defeat of the season on Saturday, this time to bottom club Haddington at Neilson Park.

Ironically by picking up the losing bonus point awarded for being defeated by less than eight points, the locals moved out of the bottom two positions primarily due to Livingston being thrashed by Kirkcaldy.

It was another disappointing and rudderless display by the Greenock side that failed to stamp any real authority on proceedings until the final 10 minutes when they sparked into life and almost saved the match.

In fairness though it was Haddington’s day and, as was indicated in Friday’s Telegraph preview, all losing streaks end eventually, but unfortunately for Wanderers, by dusk on Saturday evening, it was the home supporters that were celebrating bringing their dismal run to an end and not the visitors.

The match was played in bright sunshine but with a blustery wind that made handling difficult and in truth the game was an error-strewn affair with frequent stoppages that punctuated the entire 80 minutes.

The hosts though coped better with the conditions and straight from the kick-off went on the offensive when the Greenock pack failed to deal with the kick-off.

The early pressure yielded a penalty and Alex Ferguson, the Haddington stand-off with the famous name, put the reds into an early three point lead.

The early advantage clearly encouraged the men from East Lothian and they tore into the Wanderers ranks with some penetrating play.

Greenock’s frailties in the tackle once more bubbled to the surface as the first up tackling was poor and added to the hosts keeping the momentum and forcing the pace.

On 17 minutes a series of rucks took play close to the Wanderers line and after several breenges had been repelled home skipper and prop forward Gary Cockburn barged his way over to extend the lead to 8-0.

Wanderers responded with some enterprise of their own and managed to put together some decent passages of play and with the home defence stretched scrum-half Andy McDougall squeezed in for a try wide on the left.

Stand-off Kenny Diffenthal took due cognisance of the wind and slotted his conversion effort beautifully from a wide angle to reduce the deficit to 8-7.

On the half-hour mark a Haddington break-out from deep inside their own half almost led to a score but it did serve to put the hosts back onto the front foot.

More penetrating and driving play by the home pack penned Wanderers back and from third phase possession centre Callum Cockburn forced his way over for a try. Ferguson comfortably converted to increase the lead to 15-7 at the interval.

The second period started well for the hosts as they played wisely into the wind.

On 55 minutes a series of Wanderers handling errors followed by a penalty award to Haddington all contrived to put the locals under pressure.

Ferguson kicked for position down the touchline and a text book catch and drive took play close to Wanderers’ line.

As the big units in the home pack drove powerfully forwards scrum-half Richard Crighton popped a short pass to hooker Colin Stuart who powered over from close range.

Ferguson missed the conversion but at 20-7 down Wanderers looked a beaten side.

With the game drifting towards full time Wanderers seemed incapable of using the strong wind to their advantage and appeared bereft of any inspiration or ideas as to how best to break down the Haddington defence.

On 70 minutes though Greenock centre Callum Harrison changed the whole complexion of the game.

The Greenock youngster went on a mazy run and cut a fine line through the hosts’ rearguard to touch down under the posts.

Diffenthal’s conversion kept Wanderers in touch and cut the deficit to only six points.

Amazingly four minutes later a carbon copy attack from Wanderers led to Harrison once more threading his way through the home defence to dot down close to the posts. Diffenthal’s conversion this time gave Wanderers an unexpected lead and put the Greenock men in front for the first time in the game albeit by the slenderest of margins.

With a win now a real possibility the locals contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Straight from the restart Wanderers once more failed to cope with the kick off and a spell of Haddington pressure yielded another penalty awarded by international referee Rob Dickson, much to the chagrin of the Wanderers bench.

With the match now on a knife-edge Haddington goal-kicker Ferguson remained calm under pressure and his effort perfectly bisected the uprights to complete the scoring and sign, seal and deliver the hosts first victory of the season.

Wanderers are at home next week to Cartha Queens Park Wanderers are sponsored by Texas Instruments.