Albion Rovers v Alloa Athletic

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The Wasps moved two points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes League One table and extended their sequence to winning nine competitive games this season after a difficult first half at Coatbridge on Saturday against Albion Rovers.

The breakthrough came twelve minutes into the second half when Iain Flannigan’s shot took a deflection to give the Wasps the lead, this gave the team a great lift and further goals from Calum Waters and Luke Donnelly, who made an impressive debut put the team into the asendancy.

However prior to the opening goal it took a hugely important double save from Neil Parry to deny the home side the opening goal, which along with the substitutions was the turning point in the game.

Ex Alloa defender, Michael Dunlop turned  a cross which Greig Spence was ready to pounce on to make it four and later Iain Flannigan and Greig Spence had other chances to increase the margin.


 


jack ross after albion annihilation
I thought we were ok in the first half, I knew it would be a tough game, that is what I expected , we have played a certain way this season and things have gone very well for us, a lot of these games have been on our pitch which is very different to Cliftonhill so we had to tweak a couple of things. I thought we started the second half very positively which helped us and we got a bit of fortune with the first goal which you need, it was Iain Flannigan’s goal, I know it has been credited to Jordan Kirkpatrick but it was Flanny’s strike on goal, which did take a slight deflection, but Flannigan’s goal. It was an important goal, we were playing well at that stage and in the ascendancy and there after we were very good, I think the substitutions helped us, Jon Robertson’s energy and is a very positive player and Luke Donnelly came on to make his debut, which was terrific, he has got very good ability which belies his appearance at times, he has huge technical ability and took his goal very well. If we had scored in the last minute and won I would still have been pleased but to do it in the manner we did in the second half was really good.
We had to adapt to the surface, it was a different type of game, sometimes I think in the first half we tried to carry the ball too much, it is difficult to carry the ball for distance in this surface, but I would never had used that as an excuse had we lost the match, because you have to adapt and find ways to win football matches and that is something we have talked about for a long time.
There will be times we will have to change how we play some weeks over the course of this season, especially as we come into the winter months, we have consistency on our own pitch but the most important thing is to find ways of winning football matches. It is an incredible record we have, to go nine games unbeaten at any time is very good but to have nine consecutive wins is fantastic and the manner of a lot of these wins have been excellent, with six clean sheets in that period. We have to enjoy it, talk it up, there is no complacency, but we use it to fill ourselves with confidence, we have to use that to our advantage, let people know we are a good team, we have that belief, but we have to let other people know that before we play them and then go out on the park and prove it.
The players are the people who go on the park and do it, Iain Flannigan this season has been unplayable at times, he is such an influential player, so it is really pleasing to collect another three points after probably our most difficult 45 minutes this season in the first half today. Young Calum Waters had a tough first half, but in the second half he was excellent, scoring his goal and creating other chances, but the players all have great winning character in them.

Ground

Cliftonhill
Cliftonhill, Mosside, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, ML5, United Kingdom