In the Ladbrokes Championship Play-Off Final 1st Leg played at The Indodrill Stadium on Wednesday night, “The Wasps” were frustrated and disappointed with the result, going down 1-0 to a spectacular winner which gave the visitors, Dumbarton, something to hang onto which the defended for their life.

jim goodwin after 1st leg advantage goes to dumbarton

Frustrated with the result tonight, would be the best word to sum up my feelings after the match, the boys did everything that we has asked of them, to go and play football, play the ball out from the back, play through the different thirds of the pitch we did all that and in the opening five minutes we were camped in the Dumbarton half and they get a breakaway and their first shot of the game goes in the top corner, so it was hard to take at the time but the reaction of the players was excellent. They kept on doing the right things, they never panicked and were very patient in the build up, we just couldn’t break them down, and that was the most frustrating thing about it.

Dumbarton are very good at being compact, sitting deep and defending the box well and I thought they done that well, it is difficult we just need to keep going and “Keep Believing” that we can get back in the game, we will go to Dumbarton with the same mindset that we will still try to play football the way we think it should be played and hopefully get a break of the ball in the box because we had some good opportunities tonight – Jordan Kirkpatrick forced their keeper to make a great save in the first half when he tips to ball onto the post and later Callum Smith  had two or three good opportunities, one on one chances where I have to give credit to Craig Barr who slipped back in and got a very good block and then the second one the keeper makes a good save so on another night we would have scored at least one goal but unfortunately tonight we couldn’t quite do that.

At the goal the TV evidence suggests the ball went out of play but I was right there and it was an obvious decision in my opinion, I’m not one for publically disagreeing with referees but it is difficult when you have the fourth official standing in the same position as me, in fairness to the linesman, I think “Flanny” is in the way of the ball but it was clearly out of play and its one of these ones if you are unsure you go the way of the defender but six or seven seconds after that the ball drops to Stuart Carswell who was an ex teammate of mine, I know I will not hear the end of that one, but I think he has two shots in his whole career and has two goals, so it’s incredible  it was a hell of a strike but that’s how football goes – sometimes you are better being lucky that good.

Tonight I just wanted the lads to go out and play the way they had all season, I would like to see the possession stats and shots on goal, I can’t remember Neil Parry having much to do and I think their goalkeeper was the busier of the two keepers, I think we dominated possession of the ball I think in was 70/30 or something, the only thing that was missing was a goal. We will go away analysis the game again but I don’t expect anything different from Dumbarton, they get an early goal, sit in and grind out results, fair play to them they are good at it but I would rather my team go about business in the way we did and try and play football in the correct manner and hopefully we can get a goal on Sunday then Dumbarton will need to come out to try and win the game but at the moment I expect them to have a similar game plan to what they had tonight for the last eighty minutes of the game.

Our aim at the start of this season was to get promoted and we still have a chance to do that, last night’s 2-0 victory over Raith Rovers in the Championship Play-Off Semi-Final 1st Leg puts us in a good position, but there is still a lot of football still to be played, the tie is far from over yet.

Raith Rovers, who would have been disappointed that they did not win the League One Championship on Saturday when “The Wasps” held them to a 0-0 draw, only made the one change to their team Ross Matthews starting in stead of Dario Zanatta. The Alloa Athletic team had three changes, returning to the starting line up were Stevie Hetherington, Iain Flannigan and Jamie McCart as Jim Goodwin set about winning the first leg tie. The opening goal in these games is always important and Raith keeper Graeme Smith will not want to look back at the highlights as he attempted clear the ball and was robbed by the alert Ross Stewart who took the opportunity to open the scoring.

Alloa Athletic were then suffer a set back when their recently voted “Player of the Year” Stevie Hetherington suffered what appears to be medial ligament damage and his season was over.

Raith Rovers best effort of the evening came after 55 minutes when Jason Thomson’s effort climbed over the bar as they looked to get into the game.

Three minutes later Alloa increased their lead after great work by Kevin Cawley, who passed inside for Iain Flannigan to score his ninth goal of the season.

Alloa were looking to increase their lead and Graeme Smith after his initial mistake for the opening goal, redeemed himself in the second half to keep the scoreline at only 2-0.

jim goodwin after 2-0 victory in first playoff leg

From start to finish I thought we were excellent tonight, it was a very professional performance, and we defended really well and looked particularly dangerous going forward. The only thing I could be critical of is one thing, we could have been three or four nil up to be honest with you, I think their keeper has made a couple of good saves in the second half, but if you had offered me 2-0 before the game I would have bitten your hand off.

It puts us in a great position but I will be saying the exact same thing as every manager does in the Play-Off’s -“ Its Only Half-Time”. A two nil lead is a dodgy lead, at 2-0 ahead we are in a good position, much better than being two down, but I am aware of the fact that if Raith Rovers get an early goal on Saturday “Its game on again”.

So we know on Saturday we will need to be disciplined, we will set up to be hard to beat obviously, and that’s two clean sheets in back to back games against Raith Rovers which I don’t think many teams have did that against them this season. There were some great individual performances tonight but I don’t want to name names because collectively as a unit we looked solid, so it is fair to say I am really pleased.

Raith Rovers will be disappointed after the weekend and not having won the league it is difficult to pick yourself up after that disappointment but I just thought at 2-0 the message to the boys on the park was not to just be happy with 2-0, particularly when they went down to ten men I felt they were there to be got at. We did try, we had a couple of half chances, Kevin Cawley hit one and the keeper made a good save, Jon Robertson hit a shot which was deflected and the keeper managed to save it with his leg, Callum Crane broke well into the box but didn’t get his shot away and there were other opportunities we could have put the game to bed but as it stands right now we are in a good position but Raith Rovers are a very good side with dangerous players in their forward areas and we will need to make sure our concentration levels are the same on Saturday as they were tonight.

Unfortunately Stevie Hetherington looks like he has picked up a medial ligament injury and likely to be out for next six weeks before he is back jogging, really disappointed for Stevie, he has been our “Player of the Year this Season” and consistency wise he has been excellent, so he is a big loss to us there is no doubt of that but at the same time Jon Robertson comes in and slots in brilliantly, that is the luxury I have as manager we have put a great squad together and at times like this when you lose players like Stevie Hetherington and PJ Crossan, we still have players who can come in and fill the gaps and we don’t look any lesser a team, so I am privileged to be in that position.

Saturday’s Play-Off Final 2nd Leg v. Brechin City was a rollercoaster of a match which had everything for the fans who attended the game and others who watched live on BBC ALBA, the game was enthralling with both teams on the offensive from the kick-off, it was an incredible game and a great advert for the game of football.

Just as one team looked to have the advantage, there would be another twist and by the end of the regulation 90 minutes “The Wasps” lead 4-3, making the aggregate score 4-4. So to extra time for the second week in a row for both teams, again both teams had chances to score but with time running out it looked like the outcome of the game would be determined by penalty kicks.

Dylan Mackin rises to make it 4-3 on the day for “The Wasps”
Well done to all the players of both sides who stepped forward to take a penalty kick, but as always there has to be a winner and unfortunately for Alloa Athletic with the score at 4-4 after the initial five penalties each taken it went to sudden death and Iain Flannigan’s spot kick struck the post and went past, James Dale then had the opportunity to win the game for Darren Dod’s team, which he converted.

Losing a penalty shoot-out is always hard to take, it has been a fantastic season with so many highs to remember but it was not the end we had hoped for. It’s devastating as we put so much into the game, to finish the season second best club in the league, we knew counted for nothing, we’re bitterly disappointed , so neat yet still so far. Good luck to Brechin City as they head to the SPFL Championship next season.

jim goodwin after penalty heartache

Very difficult to put into words, it is definitely the lowest I have felt in my 20 years as a professional and being involved in the game, I can’t remember feeling as bad as this and I have suffered relegation in the past in my career.

Devastated for everyone connected to the club, the supporters, the board of directors, but more than anything I am absolutely gutted for the players, they have done so well this season, they have shown how good a team they are today, I felt we gave a better account of ourselves today than we did on Wednesday night, which is obviously pleasing but gutted for the players – they gave me absolutely everything and I couldn’t ask for anymore.

I think we proved over the season that we were the second best team in the league, being runners up to Livingston, but we knew that counted for nothing going into the Play-Off’s, we knew we had to be at our best on the day. I think we just have to give credit to Brechin City, I don’t want to over analyse the game too much, we were extremely disappointed to lose some of the goals we did today, but I don’t think today is the time to look at those type of things. I would like to congratulate Darren Dods, his back room staff and players and wish them well in the Championship next season.

The game was a much better spectacle than what Wednesday night’s game was  which could not have been great viewing on BBC ALBA, but tonight was a good advert for our league, I think it was two teams that gave it a right good go, every player out there was dead on their feet at the end, there wasn’t one player who came off who could have given any more but when it goes to penalties it is a lottery at the end of the day, you might as well toss a coin and do away with them, somebody has to miss, I feel gutted for Iain Flannigan he has been a fantastic player for us all season, for that to happen to him, I don’t think he deserved that, but I don’t believe anybody does, fair play to all the players who had the bottle to go and take a penalty, that is a hard thing to do, I’ve been in that position myself and it is very difficult to keep yourself calm, we just have to go again and come back stronger next season it’s as simple as that.

Nobody in the dressing room said a lot after the game because as you can imagine you could hear a pin drop in the dressing room, the boys are absolutely gutted and I am for them as well, but I did say to them they should try and remember what this feels like, we kind of experienced it at Livingston a few weeks back when they clinched the league, but in fairness to Livingston they deserved to win the league, so we must use this next year and make us stronger and try and make sure we can go and win the league next year and not having to rely on going up through the Play-Off’s.

The Wasps progressed to their fourth Play-Off final after defeating Airdrie on penalty kicks after the ninety minutes and extra time had ended 1-0 on the day, 1-1 on aggregate. This was a tie over the two legs with Airdrie having the better of the first leg but Alloa Athletic deservedly won after being the better side in the second leg and really should have won inside the ninety minutes but for some outstanding saves by the airdrie keeper Rohan Ferguson and a crucial miss in front of goal, ironically from Alloa top goalscorer Greig Spence nearly let “The Diamonds” off the hook.

Both sides gave their all and at times the game flowed from end to end with plenty goalmouth action. Dylan Mackin was denied giving Alloa the lead when Rohan Ferguson tipped his header over the bar and then saved from the same player with his feet. The winning goal on the day was a goal fit to win any match and Jon Robertson who had replaced Graeme Holmes in the line ups from midweek, struck a 25 yard volley past Ferguson. Then remarkably Greig Spence missed the chance of the match after Jordan Kirkpartrick had taken the ball round Airdrie keeper Rohan Ferguson anset up Greig in front of goal, but his shot lifted and struck the top of the bar, which was a huge let off for the visitors. Alloa missed a penalty in the shoot out when Steven Hetherington saw his effort saved but Alloa keeper Neil Parry then produced two stunning saves to deny Iain Russell & Kieran MacDonald, with the scores locked at 3-3, Calum Waters was given the responsibility to take the final spot kick, which he coolly drilled past Rohan Ferguson to win the match 4-3 on penalties.

The Wasps will now meet Brechin City, who themselves progressed to the final after defeating Championship side Raith Rovers on penalties.

jim goodwin on reaching the playoff final

I’m absolutely delighted with the overall performance, we showed great character, we knew we weren’t at the pace or standard we set on Wednesday night and Airdrie deserved to win the game on Wednesday night but I thought today the boys were different class for the majority of the game, Airdrie had their wee spells on the break but without being disrespectful of them I don’t think anybody could argue with the overall outcome to be honest. I know penalties is a bit of a lottery but if you think of the chances we had throughout the match , I think we probably should have put the game to bed before it got to extra time.

Just so proud of the boys, through my twenty years involved in full-time football I have never come across a bunch of boys and that is not me being disrespectful of a great team we had at St. Mirren when we won the cup, I’ve never known a bunch like this, you couldn’t tell who was the part time team and who was the full time team out there today, their fitness levels are phenomenal, what they do here is train with us two nights a week and it is their responsibility to go and do the rest during the week and I don’t think the majority of the full time boys I have played with don’t even know they are born in comparison the work these lads do, their energy levels are frightening, the substitutions that I made, every single one of them Hetherington, McCluskey and Adam Martin they all made an impact when they came on. Overall you could say it is a bit of relief that we have got through the tie but we are well aware we have done nothing yet, we are not getting carried away, the boys will recover properly they will get their ice baths after the game, be in on Monday night for a massage and then we go again on Wednesday.

Greig Spence is in there and he is gutted for his miss but if there was any a person in the team you would want the chance to fall to it would have been Greig, but he has been a hero so many times for us this season and without his goals, god only knows where we would be so no he is a fantastic player, he is great around the dressing room and he is very relieved, I’m not sure he would have got out of Alloa tonight if we hadn’t of won that game. The boys were brilliant and great bottle for the lads who stepped up to take the kicks because that’s nervous as well, that takes courage and bravery, wee Calum’s heart must have been racing at the end but if ever there was a guy who you would want to take the last penalty with the quality of the left foot he has, it would have been him, and Neil Parry makes two great saves, but overall I can’t single out any individual, I think our performance was where I expected it to be on Wednesday night and we now have a final to look forward to.

Brechin City are a good side, well organised any encounter we have had with them has always been a difficult one, but we have played them four times this season, so it is probably better that it is Brechin, because it is easier for me because we know them a lot more than we would have known Raith Rovers. I had been digging out as much footage as I could on Raith Rovers over the last couple of weeks but I am glad it is Brechin, both of us know each other well, we know our strengths and our weakness are and it will make for another great game, so we just need to go and apply ourselves properly to give ourselves every chance, I am confident if we are able to go and replicate our performance of today then we will be fine.