Alloa Athletic Women suffered a 6-1 defeat away to Linlithgow Rose in their latest league outing, in a difficult afternoon that came during a week where the club also announced manager Allan Milne will leave his role at the end of the season.

The hosts made a fast start and raced into an early two-goal lead before Alloa responded midway through the first half. Maxine Simpson delivered an excellent free-kick into the area which was turned home by a trialist to pull the Wasps back to 2-1.

However, Linlithgow Rose responded strongly and a flurry of well-worked goals saw the home side extend their advantage to 5-1 by half time.

Three changes at the break helped Alloa steady the ship, with Bailey Black causing problems throughout with her pace up top. Despite positive play, the visitors were unable to find another goal before Rose added a sixth with a long-range strike.

Madison Dunn also produced a superb goal-line clearance late on to prevent the scoreline from increasing further.

Alloa now turn their attention to their final league match of the season against West Park this Sunday at Recreation Park, with a 2pm kick-off. The side will then prepare for the cup final on Saturday, May 23 against Penicuik Athletic, also at Recreation Park with a 2pm start.

A disappointing afternoon but there were still positives to take from the second-half performance. The players kept working hard, showed good character after a tough first half, and now our full focus turns to finishing the league season strongly before preparing for the cup final.

Allan Milne