Competition: Championship

Rangers v Alloa Athletic

The visit to Ibrox was never going to be an easy task for “The Wasps” against league leaders Rangers who had dangerously lost their first league game of the season the previous week against Hibernian. Following Rangers Remembrance Day tribute, the home side looked to take the game to their visitors but disappointingly an error allowed the home side to get the early lead they had hoped for, Andy McNeil being caught in two minds and put his weak clearance straight to Martyn Waghorn, who expertly shot the ball into the back of the net. Three minutes later James Tavernier doubled their lead with a well placed free kick. To their credit Alloa weathered the storm and created two gilt edged chances, five minutes before half time Michael Chopra looked to punish a Rob Kiernan error, having time to run in on goal his shot beat Rangers keeper Wes Foderingham, but came crashing back out off the crossbar, a minute later Eddie Ferns broke free on goal, but delayed his shot and Lee Wallace got back to somehow save the day. This was “The Wasps” best spell in the game and at this level you will be punished for not taking your chances. Barrie McKay then pounced on a poor Michael Chopra ball and the alert Waghorn again finished clinically. In the second half the Alloa players showed great determination and concentration to thwart the Rangers advances. Ex Rangers player Kyle McAusland had a headed attempt before Eddie Ferns turned sinner, with a stamp on Rangers youngster Jordan Thompson, which reduced Danny Lennon’s side to ten men. Seventeen year old Ryan Hoggan was then introduced to make his Wasps League debut, and deserving presence in the game. Then after all the good work in the second half, Nicky Clark made it 4-0 with a header deep into time added on, which was cruel, albeit a deserved win for Rangers.

 

danny lennon at ibrox

I take a lot of positives from today’s game, in terms of how well we competed, the attitude and application of the players was fantastic, however when you come to Ibrox you know that when you come up against a big club like this and Rangers had a point to prove, which made it doubly hard, after coming from a result last week when they lost to Hibernian, so they had a point to prove, why they believe they are the best in the league at this moment in time. They certainly did that today as well as the quality of the three goals in the first half, they were absolutely first class finishes from their point of view but like anything we certainly had a helping hand within that.

The teams are Worlds apart in terms of size, finances, etc, – I asked my players prior to coming here today to go out and compete and apply themselves with the right attitude and application they would be winners in my eyes, regardless of the score, so we will take these positives from the game today and we now have to put them together in the games, when we do not face the top teams like Rangers, with the same quality week in week out, unfortunately we will not be playing in such a wonderful environment as this every week but we will still need to go with the same frame of mind and we cannot let that level of performance drop.

It would have been very interesting if Michael Chopra’s shot which came back off the cross bar and the one where Eddie Ferns goes through, but it was wonderful defending from Lee Wallace to get back, probably no other Rangers player on the pitch would have got back, and goals certainly do change games, Rangers then went down the other end of the park and unfortunately for us Jason Marr slipped and as all good strikers do, Martyn Waghorn capitalised with a fantastic finish.

I thought Waghorn’s movement today was terrific, I thought even as well as we tried to plug the gaps –NASA couldn’t have kept track of him today with his movement, he was absolutely fantastic. The first goal we lost was a sore one I would like to see it again but from my first point of view I thought Andy McNeil should have picked it up, but other than that if he thought he couldn’t pick it up rather than kick it back into an area in the centre of the goal you have to put it into the Sandy Jardine Stand.

Quality players will punish you for wee mistakes, other weeks we might have got away with it with that kind of error. Even at two nothing down as early in the game, I still felt that having watched Rangers in the past, they never really got at us in terms that they did earlier in the season at Alloa, also when you are playing against the top teams you know a wee bit more about them and we knew a wee bit more about ourselves and while 4-0 looks bad, it terms of the result, but to come here and put on the level of performances we did for the club our size in a highly competitive league I thought we did absolutely well. My message at half-time was that we were never going to come back out and score four goals or three goals to get back in the game and the message to the players was not to allow it to go to four, five or six, which they can do to teams which has happened already this season.

So our aim was to stay to our game plan and make sure that we didn’t concede more and the most disappointing thing was then to lose the fourth goal in time added on, which put a slight damper on the second half performance.

Eddie Ferns made a rash decision, which we all saw, but he has held his hand up and apologised to his teammates which I greatly admire that he was wrong, which made it even more difficult for us. It was also great to give 17 year old Ryan Hoggan his league debut and for him as a young player to come here and get a wee flavour of the environment, we hope he grows in it and takes all the experience in.
4 - 0
Full Time

Alloa Athletic v Queen of the South

Once again “The Wasps” will look back on the game against Queen of the South and reflect on what could have been, they got off to the best possible start with Graeme Holmes scoring a fantastic strike after only 35 seconds. Indeed Alloa had the ball in the net again in the first half, Mikk Reintam knocked the ball down for Robbie Crawford to net but the big Estonian was adjudged offside. The turning point of the game came immediately at the start of the second half when Queen’s broke from the kick-off, Iain Russell put through a ball wide on the left to Derek Lyle, who looked suspiciously offside, his cross was headed goalwards by Paul Heffernan, which was blocked by Andy McNeil but Gary Oliver reacted first and knocking in the rebound, ten minutes later Oliver again scored the winner, coming in at the back post. Alloa still had chances and on another day, Eddie Ferns shot from wide left of the box, came back off the post and cleared to safety.

 

danny lennon after queen of the south

Once again very disappointed not to be taking any points from the game, which is highly frustrating as it is, points that are going to help you survive in this league, so we are very disappointed in that. I think I said in my notes prior to the game looking over the first quarter of the season, where we have been in my assessment, and on what was required in the second quarter of the season, I felt that there were five of those games, in the first quarter, that we participated in and that’s not good enough that we deserved to come away with nothing playing second best and then there’s other games within that we have competed very well and you could say we deserved some points three games we deserved some points and then other games that we have picked up some points and played like winners.

Coming into the second quarter what has been pleasing is that we are not participating in those games we are competing in the games and that has to be what we are asking for, as a minimum. Today, I felt that once again the start of the second half they would come out with a big reaction but who was going to have the biggest reaction – I actually missed the first QOS goal as I was just coming out of the tunnel when the roar went up and that was highly frustrating because they have reacted and started better.

I actually felt that we played better in the second half than in the first half so there was a lot of pleasing stuff within that. Certainly within the first nine or ten minutes where they scored their two goals that is where we lost the game today. There was high levels of everything that we are looking for, players competing, Eddie Ferns when things are not going your way and you look at everything you may even look at outside influences today, maybe decisions not going your way but that is what it feel s like when you are in the position where we are. On another day Eddie Ferns strike maybe does not come off the post and go out the way, it maybe bounces off the post and goes another way – it does not fall kindly to our players– these are the thin margins that we keep talking about. We need to dust ourselves down. We now go to a place next week which is going to be a huge, a huge, challenge for us but one that we all signed up for and that was my message to them just now when you were a wee boy growing up and you had all those dreams and hopes it was going to stadiums like that and trying to fulfil that and going there to compete and I am delighted that over the last few weeks we are continuously competing in games and keeping ourselves in games.

As I said we go there , as a wee kid you wanted to go there and you wanted to play in stadiums that have a full house against what the experts will say good quality players , that is going to be the challenge for us but one that we certainly be prepared for – once again we will take our medicine, dust ourselves down and will be raring to go again – I have continuously said that it is important that we do start to pick points up – this season is not a sprint we are still in the marathon part, there is a lot of football still to be played as I said I am particularly pleased that we are keeping ourselves in the games at this minute in time – it was a terrific start for us – I don’t know if goals can come too early – I joked with a child at the side and said how long is there to go, after we scored – do you think we’ll hold on! It was a terrific strike and something we have encouraged the players to do – over the piece we have spoke about where your goals are going to come from and we need them from all quarters and it was terrific that “Homer” who he believes doesn’t have that type of thing in his locker, but I know that he has, and it is trying to get that out of him, a wonderful goal and one he will certainly cherish. I class Hibernian and Rangers as the top two with the big budgets and the ones that will be there at the end of the season competing for first and second. As for the other teams – I have continuously said it is what you bring on that day – on our day we will give any of the other 7 teams a games. What of other teams, do they have a bit of consistency – we have just got to relish the challenge, the points that we have gained – points we have picked up have been against bigger teams and we know more about these teams second time around and hopefully we can nullify what their qualities have and play to our strengths.
1 - 2
Full Time

Greenock Morton v Alloa Athletic

To come away with nothing at Cappielow on Saturday, after all the effort the players put in is really frustrating. The players themselves are frustrated by the recent run of results but know they can still turn things around. Once again on Saturday it turned into a game of “first goal the winner” , the margins in this league are tighter than ever and looking back the players know when chances come along they must be taken at this level or you will be punished. However, it took a wonder strike from a second half free kick for Greenock Morton to claim full points at Cappielow and seperate the teams. The Wasps will now face Queen of the South next Saturday at the Indodrill Stadium, after James Fowler’s men were defeated 4-1 at Dumfries by Livingston which pushed “The Wasps” to the foot of the table.

 

danny lennon at cappielow

Disappointed with the result, but we know just how challenging and difficult this league is, but once again today to put in a performance, especially in the first half, it’s difficult to take that we again take nothing from the game. The difference was the one piece of brilliance which won Greenock Morton the game today, it was a fantastic free kick, what we have to address is the challenges and the free kicks we give away and there is fine lines between controlled aggression and rash, rushing in there challenges and giving the referee the opportunity to give a free kick, I thought personally it was a foul but there is such fine lines within decisions in every game. I thought in the first half we did well and the points were there for the taking, but where we had to improve was in that final third, continually I feel we are still trying to look for that perfect pass or that extra touch to set us up, and more often than not at this minute in time when we do take that extra touch we lose out on that pass that we are looking for, which has been going against us. I’m a great believer if you don’t buy a raffle ticket you cannot win, so we need to take the most of our chances when they are presented.

We know the challenge which we have signed up for at the start of the season, teams will defend deep and once again the first goal was going to prove so important. It is even more disappointing to find ourselves now bottom of the league after other results today, but we know that it is not a sprint, it’s a marathon and we are getting a lot closer to teams and our stats within the games are improving but the biggest stat that we must improve on at this time is that when we do have that bit of ascendancy at any given stage we must make it count and take our opportunities when they arise that’s the frustrating part. Michael Chopra had a great chance in the first half and he will be disappointed he didn’t put it away but he scored some great goals at the end of last season to keep us in this Division and there is no reason why he cannot reach these levels again and he will. Every single game for us is crucial and we again are disappointed we didn’t take something out of our past two games which we have lost 1-0, we know what this football club have achieved in the past three seasons staying in this fantastic league and we have to try and emulate that to go beyond that and achieve a fourth consecutive season in the Championship.

I believe in every one of the boys in that dressing room and there are some, I look at Jason Marr’s performances in the last four or five weeks where he has been exceptional and these are the levels we should be reaching, Colin Hamilton is now settling in to the games in away we knew he could. Morton being a full time team get far more time with their players to work on things, I can’t always come out with that excuse but the players are getting to know my style of play better and they are also getting to know me better and I am getting to know them better as well, but the most important thing is I can get the maximum out of these players, it is also the players own responsibility not only with us on a Tuesday or Thursday but they do take it on for themselves to do that wee bit extra, we have some great pros so that is not a big ask.

At the end of the day we cannot legislate for a piece of brilliance which wins the game, it was a worthy goal to win any game. What we have to look at is the fact people might say we have not replaced Liam Buchanan, but where do you replace a player like that? Apart from Liam Buchanan who scored 17 goals last season the likes of Kevin Cawley got 5 goals , but at this time we cannot rely on one person we need everybody to be looking to get on the score sheet be it Andy McNeil or David Crawford, but we cannot get ourselves down to low , yes we are disappointed and we will wake up the same as the fans because we are passionate about the game and have that washing machine going within our belly, here we go and you will be hiding from people at work but you cannot get to low, also on the high’s we mustn’t get carried away. Our joy and our fulfilment will be at the end of this season whether we are playing in this league for a fourth consecutive season and that’s what will count in May not where we are just now that is you aim.
1 - 0
Full Time

Alloa Athletic v Raith Rovers

Danny Lennon and his players can be disappointed not to take anything from this game, it is a travesty they lost, but the bottom line is they need to be more clinical. In this league the first goal is so important, we played some very good football but again can look back on chances we had, bid didn’t put away – Michael Duffy was excellent, Michael Chopra could have put us ahead on two separate occasions but could the team could not capitalise when on top. Losing, what was to be the winning goal, a minute after both teams made a double substitution. Even after losing a late goal, substitute Eddie Ferns might have given us at least a deserved draw but his final shot was straight at Raith keeper Cuthbert. A sore result to take on the day.

 

danny lennon after raith rovers game

The positives are I would take that level of performance every single week, the commitment, determination and attitude of the players, desire right throughout the game. I thought a lot of spells we played some very good football and created some good opportunities and we have to be more clinical to finish them off – there is a little bit error in the middle of the park you still have to go a long way but when you are right up in the top of the league the more breaks that you get it falls into the box for you and these are the very fine margins that we are up against. As I said if we get that little of consistency – what I am pleased about that from the break there last week we have put in workman like performances like that and if we continue to do that we will give ourselves every opportunity to keep ourselves in the game and gain very valuable points in a very competitive league. I thought Michael Duffy was great and he had been on international duty in Northern Ireland and we were touch and go whether we have him today and I thought he had a lot of energy and was exceptional against Falkirk the other week – what we are enc ouraging and challenging these players to do is to play at that level of performance on a regular basis. There were two fantastic saves from their goal keeper today and Michael will be disappointed but I am taking heart in the way that we are taking opportunities into the box – just for me his first header he done everything right – the second one and I don’t know if this played on his mind when first coming in it was a terrific run from Michael Doyle and I thought there was enough pace in the ball to directly header – he tried to make doubly sure of it and as good teams at the top of the league have and the fighting spirit that Raith Rovers showed he was in the line and blocked it terrifically well. I take more positives out of today than I have in a long time. You know that we have really committed players – I felt today that they deserved more out of the game but to come and it showed that we are a good side and my only challenge now is to show those strengths on a regular basis and if we do that we will give ourselves a good fighting opportunity. It was great to see Michael Doyle coming back with enthusiasm a lot of good individual performances, delighted with the back four and with the goal keeper. I thought Kyle McAusland did everything we asked him to do today in terms of nullifying the Raith attack. Graeme Holmes in the middle of the park was great. The two up top Michael Duffy and Colin Hamilton showed good quality. A lot of good players this season. We had to change one or two things. Connor McManus had a virus this week so he was missing, Dougie Hill also was injured but I think Mikk Reintham and Jason Marr were very good this week.
0 - 1
Full Time

St Mirren v Alloa Athletic

The Wasps bounced back after last week’s disappointing display against Livingston, in their first ever league game at new St. Mirren Park. Danny Lennon received a great reaction from the home St. Mirren fans going back to a ground where he had so many great memories. However, he proved his Alloa Athletic side can be a match for many of the sides in the Championship, limiting the home side to few clear cut chances. Unfortunately it was an error which lead to St. Mirren finally taking the lead on 68 minutes. The Wasps, did not let their heads go down and stormed back to gain a deserved equaliser six minutes later when Jason Marr vollied past Jamie Langfield and gain a fully merited valuable league point.

 

danny lennon after st mirren

It was a very welcome point for us but we thoroughly deserved, I thought our work commitment, the attitude of the players and the determination which was missing collectively last week, was evident and it showed with the amount of booking we collected today also, but it is pleasing to come to a very difficult venue and take away a massive point for us. I was delighted with the reaction and response I received from the St. Mirren fans, it was great that I could finally say a big thank you to them, I loved my four years at St. Mirren, my philosophy is the supporters, it is their football club, you are working for them, they invest so much of their time, money and emotions and it is their football club, even to this day I still get some fantastic emails, texts and letters from St. Mirren fans, we had some fantastic memories together and it will long live in my memory , it was an absolute pleasure my time at St. Mirren Football Club and it was great we could have a little bit success along the way but now my focus is on Alloa Athletic Football Club and it is an absolute privilege, it is a great wee club, where we are at this moment of time, we are playing in a highly competitive league and we are looking to try and achieve a fourth consecutive status in the Championship and what an achievement that would be for this club, so every point is valuable for us, it is a difficult challenge with the quality within the Championship this season, we won’t get our full satisfaction or our joy until the end of the season to know what we have achieved, I have an honest bunch of players and it was great to see them, even after going a goal down to respond in the manner they did, a very pleasing days work. We were disappointed at the goal we lost, looking at it Andy McNeil coming into the side made some fantastic saves, big Mikk’s played in past couple of games but I have to give the players the benefit of doubt, they haven’t really played together on matches days, other than in training, maybe a wee bit of a misunderstanding there, the two of them have said they could have done better and I think as a manager when you don’t have to ask questions when the two players came out themselves with the answer and that is great honesty , they have made a mistake but the biggest thing is they learn from this one mistake until the next time. Going into the break now it gives us the opportunity to rest players who have been carrying knocks, Dougie Hill and Michael Chopra, a wee ten day break which gives them time to recover, with us being a part time football club you only have the boys two nights a week, so it gives us an extra opportunity to work with them next weekend, top them up a little bit. We have allowed Aron Lynas to go on loan to East Stirlingshire until the end of the year to gain more first team action, which will be good for him, and we also have Michael Doyle and Greg Rutherford back at the club training, they will both be involved in the Reserve game on Monday night against Stenhousemuir.
1 - 1
Full Time

Alloa Athletic v Livingston

Saturday was a game to forget for “The Wasps” on the football pitch where the players on the day were outbattled by Livingston. Prior to the kick-off, Chairman Mike Mulraney asked the supporters to remember ex Chairman and Honorary Director, Bobby Hopkins with a minutes applause, after one of the club’s finest supporters had died the previous Saturday.
The team however, disappointingly put in possibly their poorest performance of the season and were punished by returning ex Alloa Athletic top goalscorer from last season, Liam Buchanan, who joined Livingston in the close season after clinching a full time contract.

 

DANNY LENNON AFTER LIVI DEFEAT

Very disappointed and very angry that we have allowed the opposition to come here today and win the battle and dominate us, practically the whole game, very disappointed in that manner. We have to congratulate them on winning, you always look as a manager to make your team difficult to break down but they certainly did that throughout the game, that was very disappointing. At the times we did get on the ball I thought our decision on the ball was poor today, so there is no doubt from the start of this campaign that has been our poorest performance, so it is very important that we learn, dust our selves down and get that hunger and fire back in our bellies as we know how competitive this league is and these have been key strengths for us over the last couple of weeks where we have managed to collect four points out of the previous three games, that grit and determination, keep working, which will be the major part in getting that success and if we are successful in staying in the Championship for the fourth consecutive season these are the ingredients that are going to do it.

I think you look at the bench and the depth of the squad at this time and I have very difficult decisions to make, Graeme Holmes not starting and sitting out today, whiter that was the right or wrong decision it was a difficult game to try and suggest that where Livingston appeared to win every single battle today, it’s very difficult to pin point exactly what went wrong, it’s hard to say who played to a satisfactory standard, we can play a far better quality of football at this football club. However we have a group of hungry players throughout the squad who are waiting for that opportunity and that may arise for a few of them next Saturday.

I think you seen a bit of brilliance from Michael Chopra where he steps forward and hits a cracking drive but I think really it wasn’t the fact we didn’t create out and out scoring opportunities I think in the terms of the way Livingston got in and about us we have to give them credit but we have to be better and be able to handle that situation and come up with answers to counterattack that, I feel on the times when we got possession we made very poor decisions and therefore that didn’t allow us into the final third to create the opportunities.

Going back to St.Mirren will be another tough game next week at a place where I have some great memories its games like that playing at Stadiums like St. Mirren that we all signed up for at the start of the season, we certainly know the challenge that lies ahead, very much looking forward to the game, I can’t wait for Tuesday to arrive to get the players back in, I always feel when you have had a performance like that it is a very long weekend, but we have to take our medicine, dust ourselves down and look to bounce back again, I certainly believe we have the character in the squad and they have shown that apart from today and I hope it is another nine or ten games before I am having the same conversation.
0 - 3
Full Time

Alloa Athletic v Falkirk

Alloa Athletic fought back after going down to ten men and Falkirk scoring from the resultant penalty to snatch a deserved equaliser and a league point with a late goal. Having had the best opportunities in the first half and been denied by visiting goalkeeper Danny Rogers, it was cruel for him to let Colin Hamilton’s shot slip through his hands for “The Wasps” equaliser. Danny Lennon’s team fought for the full ninety minutes and were determined to take something from the game, Eddie Ferns coming off the bench to be a thorn in the heart of the Falkirk defence not for the first time as was recalled in the match programme, recalling his “goal of the season” against “The Bairns” on 22nd March, 2014, which sparked an Alloa victory on that day.

 

DANNY LENNON AFTER DRAW

We have spoke over the past couple of weeks of having that belief, and I thought the boys showed that in abundance today, against a very good Falkirk team who are very much in form. I thought even at the stage when we went down to ten men and a goal down, the neutral coming to the game would have thought that was game over, but we showed that unbreakable belief and fought for absolutely everything we got, so I was absolutely delighted for our group of players who got their rewards at the end of the game for it. I was pleased with a lot of aspects in the game, especially in the first half, I thought we played a lot of good football , we hit on the break very quickly and very unfortunate that some good goalkeeping from Andy Rogers kept them in it, but to be fair they also looked dangerous as well, they had a few corners which looked dangerous, it would have been very easy when things went against us, with the sending off, which was the right decision, it was poor concentration by Jason, the boy John Baird stroke home the penalty well and at that stage it would have been easy for the heads to go down, but they didn’t and they stuck by everything we had said, we tweaked one or two things to also cause Falkirk problems and I was delighted to say that paid off for us, but it was the players who stuck by their instructions and got their reward in the final minute of the game, we had that never say die attitude today. I thought when you balance the game out over the ninety minutes it was probably the right result. What was positive today was the threat Michael Duffy was being pushed further forward which gave us a lot of energy in that final third of the pitch and we defended fantastically as a team right throughout the game. We didn’t start the second half the way we had finished the first half but you have got to give credit to Falkirk a side which is up the right end of the league table a lot of respect for that because they are a good side and they still remain undefeated this season in the league.

Having made such good saves in the first half, perhaps in the second half he didn’t have to work as hard for long periods which effects his concentration, he had very little to do in the second half to be fair , he is a good quality goalkeeper , he certainly showed that in his first half performance, you have to feel for goalkeepers when they make a mistake because more often than not it leads to a goal. No one of the twenty eight players used today would make a mistake during the game but it is always goalkeeping errors which are highlighted. Our own goalkeeper, David Crawford was claiming an assist for the goal, we will give him it, he is a players who never shy’s away and it helps his ego but he also had a couple of important saves and it was nice to see him coming and collecting balls which helped take that wee bit pressure on our defence. Eddie also showed to be a good threat when he came on, we went with a couple up top and it worked with Eddie going through and he provided a very important contribution, which lead to the corner and then lead to the equalising goal. I was also delighted for Colin Hamilton, he did everything well and struck the ball well, on target, and if you don’t buy a raffle ticket you cannot win the lottery.
1 - 1
Full Time

Hibernian v Alloa Athletic

It looked as though “The Wasps” tactics had worked at Easter Road in the first half, looking to break when given the opportunity and soaking up the Hibernian possession and frustrating their players, manager and supporters, until Liam Henderson gave them the lead a minute before the break when he knocked home after David Crawford had parried top scorer Jason Cummings shot from, what looked like an offside position. Indeed it was “The Wasps” who had the first chances in the game when Grame Holmes and Connor McManus both had opportunities to silence the home crowd. The second goal only four minutes into the second half was the killer, having defended so well in the first half, the defence and David Crawford would be disappointed Jason Cummings shot went under the Alloa keeper into the net. Michael Chopra was playing a lonely game up front himself, it was difficult for the Alloa players at times to break forward such was the Hibernian pressure. Twenty minutes into the second half John McGinn scored Hibs third goal after ghosting into the box. Iain Flannigan returned to the Alloa squad and might have scored a consolation goal late in the match but just failed at the back post.

 

DANNY LENNON AT EASTER ROAD

Easter Road is a difficult place to come, we certainly knew that, the resources that Hibernian have, there is a massive gulf between ourselves in terms their stadium, their budget they have, it is difficult. We were absolutely delighted in the first half in terms of the way our game plan was going for us – “The operation went well, but the patient died, as they say”. It was frustrating to lose the goal just prior to half time and just having seen it there again, it was offside, so that again makes it even more difficult to take, I would certainly like to have seen the difference that would have made at half time as the Hibernian fans were certainly starting to get frustrated and I certainly believe if they hadn’t scored when they did with the fortune they got, it would have been a different cheer they would have been getting walking off the pitch which would have given us more confidence. However going back out and losing the second goal as soon as we did was hugely disappointing as we had defended well in open play in the first 45 minutes, that was huge for us, but as I’m sitting here and saying that we can take nothing away from Hibernian they deserved their victory but we have to be honest enough and say – with the gulf in the size of the clubs and with us coming and making ourselves difficult to beat, which was the best option for us, staying in that game at 0-0 and trying to keep ourselves in it as we as long as we could, for as long as we could, I think it would have been interesting, especially if we had managed to put a bit flair on near the end if they had been holding on to a 1-0 score line.

A lot of positives to take once again from our point of view, I think when you are asking your team to play in that manner it takes a lot of discipline, and concentration when you are not seing a lot of possession but also saying that that when we did have possession, our best spell was very early in the match, but when we did win a lot of possession we were still in that defensive transition and didn’t really break out. The little time we have with the players we can see the quality at training on a Tuesday and Thursday evening but coming here and it is the responsibility of myself and the coaching staff to know what ability these players have and continue to fill them with the belief to come and play on platforms and stadiums like this, this is what we signed up for and that’s what you put all the hours into as a kid to come and play at grounds like Easter Road. It is important that when you get that opportunity you don’t let it by pass you and be brave in and out of possession but take nothing away from Hibernian they were fantastic – they passed the ball well, played very simple and very quickly but they also when they lost possession they hunted in packs and you have to give them credit for that.

I said to our players in the dressing room the local derby against Falkirk next Saturday will be a great game to be involved in, Falkirk coming back to win 3-2 today, but all the games are coming thick and fast, we now have Hibernian and Rangers fixtures in the past and we need to learn from those games, good and bad things we did, coming up now is games where there is not the same gulf in a Falkirk v. Alloa game as there might be in a Hibernian v. Alloa game, so we will continue to take the positives, learn from the negatives and look to improve on some of these next week, the last few weeks we have played in patches and today I didn’t think we done that.
3 - 0
Full Time

Dumbarton v Alloa Athletic

Victory at Dumbarton was just what the team deserved after staying focused in a game they never let their concentration dip at any part of the game. Having not won at Dumbarton since 2009 it was never going to be an easy game, but in the end a great team performance gave them a vital first victory in the SPFL Championship this season. The first half was disappointing with the ball being in the air and out of the ground more than on the park. The home side had plenty possession but never threatened David Crawford. Indeed the visitors went closest to taking the lead early in the second half when a Connor McManus volley was well saved by Mark Brown, seven minutes later Alloa scored the important first goal, McManus taking a quick free kick and Graeme Holmes turned in the box to slip the ball into the net, catching out the Dumbarton defence. Alloa always looked dangerous on the break with Robbie Crawford & substitute Eddie Ferns looking for openings. Into time added on Eddie Ferns slipped past Frazer Wright, who was making his home debut for “The Sons” to clinch the three points with a well taken goal.

 

DANNY LENNON AT DUMBARTON

It was ‘the perfect blend’ of a performance from his squad that was key to their victory.

This victory was very, very pleasing because it was a real team effort.  The way that the boys have worked throughout what has been a difficult start for us, so it was great to see them get their reward for that. The shape with all the new boys coming in has been difficult for us to get right, but I think we got the balance right in this one and I was absolutely delighted to see the players finally be rewarded for their efforts. It was a perfect mix for us in terms of the qualities of when we look to play and when we had to defend.

There was a stronger wind than you think out there so we were pleased to get in at 0-0 at half time. In the second half, we got the ball down and played well when we got our chances and to a man we were excellent in defence as well. It’s ok working on things in training, but when you get to the big occasion of the game itself you must deliver. Luckily for us, every single one of them did that and played a massive part in the victory.

We are thrilled to come away with our first three points because we knew it was a massive game coming in here. It is a long hard season in this division and a lot of people were saying us being bottom of the league is where we should be with the start we have had, but then that is what they have said for the last three years about Alloa.

What this football club have done, time and time again is defy those people and been able to punch well above our weight and prove everyone wrong. If we are able to bring those same qualities along with the type of football that I know we are capable of then hopefully we can once again earn the right to survive in this division again. There will be a lot of twists and turns before then and it is up to the players to go out there and write their own future. If we can continue to produce the type of performance that we did at Dumbarton then we will definitely be the cause of those twists and turns.

Michael Chopra will be ok, he took a bump to his hip and was struggling to move. We were disappointing to lose him from the game. Gerry went on and treated him and it says everything about him that he carried on played for almost an hour with the injury. He is a quality player and you saw the way he links the play for us so hopefully it is not too serious.

We now look to build on this result and I am excited to see the quality players that we have to come back in now. Iain Flannigan has had no reactions to his training and things are starting to settle down for us now so it is important that the players enjoy the feeling of the Dumbarton win and hopefully that spurs them on for more. As soon as we get back to training though, then the hard work will begin again for the difficult trip to Hibs.”

I was delighted with the performance of Robbie Crawford. I don’t like to single out individuals, but in terms of coming in for his debut and having only met the players on Tuesday, then I thought he was terrific. You can see the qualities he has. He showed great energy and desire in his performance and that was typified by him busting a gut to get up to support for Eddie’s goal. Fair play to Eddie for the goal and we’re delighted for him, but that energy from Crawford showed us what he is all about. He will do well for us, I am absolutely convinced of that.
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Full Time

Alloa Athletic v Greenock Morton

Another disappointing second half display from “The Wasps” today in a game one goal was to take the three points. Alloa were again missing top goal scorer this season Iain Flannigan with a back injury and captain Dougie Hill missed out after suffering concussion last Saturday at Starks Park. The first goal in this game was always going to be crucial, but although having good possession, especially in the first half, “The Wasps” would be disappointed at their play in the final third of the park by not troubling visiting keeper Grant Adam enough. The manager and players would be disappointed to lose their fourth Championship game this season, albeit by the one goal margin, next week we travel to Dumbarton, a ground in recent times the team have found difficult, but this set of players are desperate to get their first league points on the board and will look to bounce back next week.

 

DANNY LENNON AFTER MORTON GAME

Once again I mentioned in my programme notes today, that there is a very fine margins in a game of football and that was certainly evident again today, disappointed to lose a goal, particularly  when we had addressed prior to the game and more so at half-time, I felt we didn’t deal with balls coming into the box, the amount of time the ball had to travel and that’s where you are asking players to take that responsibility and just go and attack the ball, I felt in the first half and again it was much of a game of two halves, there was a lot of pleasing things within us we were getting forward without having that cutting edge, but there is certainly a lot for us to work upon there, and we will certainly do that, we know what’s needing addressed and as I said it was very fine margins, to come here and put so much into the game today and to lose 1-0 its disappointing and I can see how hard this group of players has worked to earn the right to play in the Championship but to stay there is going to be harder work, so we need to stick together, regroup again, take our medicine, but overall pleased with a lot of the aspects  especially the first half performance, things we addressed at half-time but the second half, I am disappointed how we came out the traps and that sounds as though I am repeating myself, every week at this minute and that’s disappointing but we are where we are at this moment, but I certainly believe with the quality of players we have and the character of the players we have in that dressing room, that they do time and time again show me what they have got and the message today for them was do not just give me your best in patches we need it throughout the ninety minutes and that is what we have to gear ourselves up to.

When we were getting into good areas in the park in the first have and at times in the second half although Morton controlled and pinned us back more in the second half, the possession that we had especially in the first half there was some great sequences until we got into the final third, however in the second half we didn’t quite get going there and gave a lot of sloppy possession away which is uncharacteristic of us and we never got started, but in the first half up until the final ball or the final action  we did things well and gives us something to work on but collectively we will have to work on the positives today, we have not conceded a goal from open play, it was once again from a set play. What we have done is make sure we continue to be difficult to beat and thought we defended in good areas at times, disappointed at the amount of balls which did come into our box, particularly the early part of the game, what was evident there was if the first man didn’t get it, the second man was there to cover. I thought Kyle McAusland had a fantastic performance today, in possession and out of possession he was tucking round and the amount of clearances he had, but again that is disappointing that they were missed by the first defenders prior to that, there is a lot that has been highlighted but once again we have that frustration again tonight going home, that feeling at this moment of time, along with I can feel for the fans at this minute but what we do have to do is make sure we stick together and get back on that training ground on Tuesday, iron one or two wee things out and let’s see where it takes us into a very important game,   we have taken things from every game we have had, as we develop and learn the biggest thing at this moment is that we stick together and don’t get too frustrated and let that cloud our judgement and once again we become very ordinary when we don’t pass the ball well.
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