Competition: Championship
 
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Alloa Athletic v Hibernian
A one goal margin defeat losing 1-0 to Hibernian on Saturday was the seventh time the team has narrowly lost a Championship league match this season, such are the tight margins between success and defeat in this highly competitive league. Hibs are an improved side from their first visit to Alloa at the end of August, 2014 but they had to fight till the very end of the match to hang on to their narrow victory, which on another day “The Wasps” might have snatched a draw. The winning goal from a free kick when Mark Docherty was adjudged to have fouled Fraser Fyvie and once again Scott Allan proved just how good a player he is scoring direct from the resulting free kick. Barry Smith’s side fought until the end of the game but found the Hibernian defence resolute and difficult to break down.
barry smith reflects on hibs defeat
I think Hibs had to work hard to get the three points today, from our point of view the difference today and I stress today, we didn’t use the ball as well as we normally do, which isn’t like us, we normally create more chances and keep the ball better than we did, only for about a ten – fifteen minute spell at the end of the game we did this, we maybe should have done better in our decision making and that’s the most disappointing thing about today, we didn’t actually play as well as we previously have but that might be down to Hibs who were pressing, they certainly go and press the ball well – but they had to work hard for the three points. Losing the goal from our point of view came from our corner, the free kick came from our corner, that’s something we should deal with but it was a good free kick but I would need to see it again for our positioning. People are looking at results elsewhere, but we need to look after our selves, results elsewhere will not keep us in this division it is up to us to go out and make sure we can do that which I am sure we are more than capable to do, and the players are very positive in the dressing room, because we think we have the quality to make sure we are in this division next season. We will remain positive and I keep saying we have been competitive in every game that we have played this season and we aim to remain that way and look to gain more league points. The Dumbarton game next week will be another big game for us, just like the Cowdenbeath game recently, and we will treat it as we will for every game but the boys know, three points next week will help us along the way.
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Cowdenbeath v Alloa Athletic
Yesterday’s victory at Central Park was crucial and now sees “The Wasps” move back into eighth position in the league table and looking upwards to catching Dumbarton. On the day both Ben Gordon and Michael Doyle made their 150th first team appearance for the club at Central Park, Barry Smith’s team taking the game to their opponents, Isaac Layne was causing the Cowdenbeath defence all sorts of problems with his direct running and pace. Although Alloa looked to have settled best, a warning just before the half hour mark when Kudus Oyenuga was alert to knock the ball into the net, albeit the flag was already up for offside, as half time approached Jason Marr and Kevin Cawley came closest to opening the scoring, firstly Jason’s header bounced down and over the bar while Kevin’s effort evaded the back post. Twenty minutes into the second half “The Wasps” got the all important opening goal, Isaac Layne’s back flick set up Mark Docherty to volley home a wonderful strike which sent the Alloa visiting support into raptures. The second goal fourteen minutes later was a wonderful solo goal from Kevin Cawley who had worked tirelessly all day. Substitute Greig Spence had a great chance to make it 3-0 but after rounding the home keeper he managed to allow defender Darren Brownlie to get back and knock the ball wide. A crucial win, for “The Wasps”, well deserved on the day.
barry smith at central park
I think you can see what the victory meant to myself and the players, getting these three points, it has been a while coming and although we are delighted with the three points, I thought they were deserved today, but we must continue with that type of grit and determination, I think the boys showed a different side of themselves today, when they battled in, cause normally we would try and get the ball down and play but I think today we showed a different side where we battened down the hatches and worked extremely hard to limit Cowdenbeath to very few chances. The goals were great finishes but it was the player’s hard work which was rewarded, defensively we had been in the right positions, breaking at pace when given the chance, but I am more delighted for the team as a whole that we got the goals, the work that Mark and Kevin put in to create and score the goals, they deserved the goals for their work rate.
It’s another tough game again next week, against Hibernian, however it is now the case, that Alloa Athletic have eleven massive games now between and the end of the season. It will start again against Hibernian next Saturday and I will totally focus on that game before we even start to look at any other game. We have a great squad, there is great team spirit in there was was evident to see today, in the dressing room they are all fighting for each other and that’s important when we are in the position we are but with that three points we can look forward to next week’s game. Isaac Layne did particularly well today, he has come in, he is just a young lad but he is doing well, but I don’t like singling out players, today was all about “Our team performance” and determination coupled by two great goals and it is now about focusing on the Hibernian game now.
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Queen of the South v Alloa Athletic
barry smith at dumfries
I thought we weren’t at our best in the first half but in the second half we came out and had the better chances, before they scored, and that has been the story of our season. We don’t take our chances and get beat with one chance. I could give the players a pat on the back for their second half but I cannot accept getting beat now, or cannot accept getting beat at all, and that has to stop.
Zander Clark had two great saves, top drawer saves but at the same token its chances we should score, no matter what. We ended up with four strikers on the park trying to get that last goal, the goal to make it a draw but it didn’t happen.
Kyle’s first booking is a tangle of legs and I don’t think it was a booking, the second one is a free kick but the first booking caused the sending off and that’s what the problem was, but that’s football at the end of the day the referee had a decision to make, that’s fine. The reason I got sent to the stand was a misunderstanding, the linesman thought I had been shouting at the referee when I was actually speaking to my own player, which is unfortunate, I hope after speaking to the referee he understands it wasn’t directed at him, so he knows that, he had to go with what his linesman said which wasn’t accurate, the lineman thought it was directed at the referee, but it wasn’t it was directed at my own player, because I thought he was stupid going into the second challenge, it just so happens he was coming off when I was arguing with the linesman, that’s where it got misunderstood. I don’t think there will be any further action based on the fact it was a misunderstanding and I explained that to the referee and was good enough to see my side of the incident.
Phil Roberts hadn’t played for a full ninety minutes for a good while, so he is lacking that wee bit fitness in terms of match fitness and he was tiring and he felt a wee niggle and we didn’t want to make it any worse so that’s why we took him off, to make sure he didn’t do any damage to the wee niggle which he picked up.
We cannot hide away from the fact next Saturday’s game against Cowdenbeath and how big it is, it is huge and I will not be hiding from that fact, but the boys must all soldier on together and that win I am confident will come next week.
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Livingston v Alloa Athletic
barry smith at livingston
I think we deserved a point and it was probably a fair result in the end. Both sides have had good chances in the game. Our keeper has made some tremendous saves and credit to him for that, but I think overall the draw was the right result. The positives for us are that we go above Cowdenbeath in the table now and level on points with them. Psychologically, to be above Cowdenbeath is a huge boost for the players and so hopefully that will give us a boost heading into the Queen of the South game. The conditions were very tricky out there, but that is just something you have to deal with in the winter.
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Alloa Athletic v Heart of Midlothian
Hearts showed on Saturday night why they are so far ahead in the SPFL Championship this season, they were excellent, but giving them two goals of a start was not helpful on the evening. Indeed at 1-0 “The Wasps” were extremely unlucky when ex Hearts player, Stephen Simmons shot came back off the post to safety when on another day it would have went in or fell to an Alloa player, but it was not to be. Having not started well, Barry Smith’s side battled to get back into the game and the introduction of the two new signings, Isaac Layne and Calaum Jahraldo-Martin certainly lifted the home fans and sparked pace and threat into the Alloa side. When Greig Spence headed in his 12th goal of the season to reduce the deficit to 2-1 the momentum moved to the home side. However five minutes later the game was over when Stephen Simmons misplaced a back pass and Jamie Walker killed the game. We move on to Tuesday nights rearranged fixture against Livingston with the knowledge that it is another huge game and one it is hoped our new signing can adapt quickly to the Scottish game and help the team pick up important league points.
barry smith after hearts game
Hearts are a good team, but when we pulled it back to 2-1 we felt we were maybe on the ascendancy but then a mistake cost us and Hearts went 3-1 ahead and I felt the game petered out after that. You cannot take away from the fact Hearts are a good team and we cannot afford to be giving them a two goal lead at the start of the game. From our point of view the goals we lost were avoidable, no pressure on the first one, the second one I think we can defend better, the third goal was a bad pass and the fourth one was a free header at a corner – we think they are avoidable but in general Hearts were better than us today, I think that’s the basic fact. At 1-0 we hit the post and on another day it either goes in the net or it falls to the other side of the post where Greig Spence could have knocked it in but the way our luck is the now it bounces off the post and goes to the other side of the goal to their defender, on another day that could have been 1-1. We also thought we had a claim for a penalty with Stephen Simmons in the box, I’m pretty sure it was a penalty, but we don’t get these decisions. I think the two lads who we brought on gave us a spark, the whole team worked hard, we wanted to bring players in to give more competition for places and hopefully that pushes us on. We now move on to the rearranged game against Livingston on Tuesday night, which will be another huge game for the club, it will be another though game, so Tuesday will be no different, we will prepare the same and have the players in for training on Monday night.
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Alloa Athletic v Raith Rovers
Another frustrating game for the players and fans of “The Wasps”, Barry Smith’s side was unchanging against a Raith Rovers side who had won their last three league games. Everybody knew this season was going to prove to be tough and although we had lots of possession there were few clear cut chances in the game. Both sides can look back on what could have been but Alloa certainly were on top in the second half and created most chances but again lacked a cutting edge in the final third of the park. Manager Barry Smith urged his side not to seek the perfect goal and to try more shots on target. Next week we face league leaders Hearts in a game which will be televised live on BBC Alba, kick-off 5.30pm.
barry smith after goalless draw
We need to stop looking to score the “Perfect Goal” we always wanted to pass or take an extra touch and I think if we hadn’t done that we would have had more success. Sometimes we want the perfect goal, it is nothing to do with confidence, yes we ask them to get the ball down and play but sometimes the best option is to shoot, and we didn’t do that enough today, and we should have had more attempts at goal, sometimes it’s just about putting the ball in the net. I thought in the second half we looked the more likely to score, I don’t think our keeper had much to do in the second half apart from dealing with a couple of long throw ins, so disappointed from that point of view – did we do enough to win the game? Maybe in the second half but it was a scrappy game. We did pass the ball and move relatively well, although I have seen us play better if the truth be told but it was a hard fought point, a battling point, but again when you are at home we were looking to take all three. We go into every game looking to win the three points, so it was no different today. Next game against the league leaders will take care of its self, it’s a good game to play in, and we have coped well against every team in the league, although the results have not always been in our favour – Saturday will be the same again. Isaac Layne has come in as another option, which gives a wee bit of competition for our strikers and I’m sure he will do that.
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Alloa Athletic v Rangers
This was another match where “The Wasps” should have taken something from the match and while it is great to see the team competing and more than giving the full time teams in the Championship a match, the bottom line is we are desperately in need of league points at this stage of the season. For the fourth game this season rangers struggled against Barry smith’s side and although Rangers were holding on at times, especially in the second half, the scored the only goal of the game. We can look back and be pleased with the football and chances “The Wasps” created but it was a game we will look back on knowing the team should have taken something from the match. Even in the final minutes with the home side pushing for an equaliser, Kyle Hutton, somehow rescued Kenny McDowall’s side with a clearance from directly under his own bar!
barry smith after rangers game
I definitely believe we deserved something out of the game, any Alloa fan watching that game today would know how much the boys put in, but I’m frustrated because we never took anything from the game, it’s been the same story for the past few weeks as it was for today’s game, but we really need to start picking up points from the performances which we are giving. I think Rangers scored with their first shot on target, we had a couple of chances before that and we really need to start taking the chances and by the same token we cannot concede goals which have been costly. Big game against Livingston next week and the boys know that, it’s a game for all intensive purposes we need to win, just to get us kick started, just to get three points and move on again. There is always positives to take away from the game but we have now said that for the past few weeks, it is more important that we need to pick up points, and the most important thing just now is to pick up points, but I don’t want to be negative towards the way we are playing because I think we are playing some very good football, we are getting on the ball, our movement is decent and still creating chances.
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Falkirk v Alloa Athletic
The Wasps will look back at today’s game and wonder why they didn’t take something from the match, in truth they probably played the better football on the day but Falkirk collected all three points after punishing Barry Smith’s team for trying to play football out of defence allowing Craig Sibbald to steal possession and Rory Loy’s curling shot counting as the only goal of the game. After every game it is easy to look back and think if only, the truth is Alloa were punished for casual play out of defence and not taking any of their chances on the day. Mark Docherty was first to have an effort cleared off the line, Liam Buchanan then had a direct shot at Jamie McDonald but it lacked venom, Falkirk took the lead in the 21st minute, but the home onslaught never materialised. Liam Buchanan caught Jamie McDonald in possession but the ball ran wide and his effort was cleared off the line by Peter Grant. After 37 minutes Falkirk keeper Jamie McDonald had to leave the field of play with a broken nose after an accidental clash with Greig Spence. The introduction of ex Queen of the South midfield player Mark Kerr at half-time for “The Bairns” helped the home side keep more of the ball. Alloa keeper Craig McDowall pulled of an instinctive save from Peter Grant to stop the home side making it 2-0. The Wasps were not finished yet and pushed Peter Houston’s team right to the final whistle, Kevin Cawley, Ryan McCord and a Greig Spence header all went close before Ben Gordon moved into attack and added height to the Wasps attack.
barry smith at falkirk stadium
Sad at not getting anything from today’s game but we try to be as positive because we are creating chances, we have played well, but we said the same last week, where we thought we should have won the game, and we cannot keep dropping points – although we did play well, we need to start picking points up it’s as simple as that. Our two strikers have did brilliantly for us this season, Spencey and Buchanan and we can add in Kevin Cawley as well, but we will be trying to add to the squad, but our strikers are getting into the positions, if they weren’t getting into the positions and creating chances I would be worried, so hopefully it will turn again, sooner rather than later. We need to start grinding our results, and again today it was a mistake from us that cost us the goal. Other than that, we think that we have played well in the game, but playing well doesn’t get you three points. Yes, we will pick all the positives, we think that we did play well but we do have to start taking the chances when they come along, when they do and I’m sure we will, the quality in this team will win games.
Next week’s game against Rangers is a completely different game, with a new manager coming in, but the one thing for our players is the confidence they can take from previous results we have against them this season, but it will be an extremely difficult game and one will not be taking lightly and we will have to do all the good things we did and one of the biggest things was the way we defended against Rangers, which we did very well and we will need to do that again next week if we are to get a result.
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Alloa Athletic v Queen of the South
Manager Barry Smith was disappointed his side didn’t pick up full points in today’s SPFL Championship match against Queen of the South. The Wasps had the best opportunity to break the deadlock when Liam Buchanan was put through one on one with the visiting keeper but his shot was parried and the chance slipped past. The opening goal when it did come four minutes before half time was sloppy and avoidable, which was most disappointing. In the second period the home side had the lion’s share of possession but lacked a cutting edge in front of goals. Kevin Cawley’s equaliser was the least the team deserved in game where it seemed full points were there for the taking.
barry after rounding the year off with a draw
I think we dominated the game from start to finish, and we have created the most chances, had a lot of possession, but obviously pleasing after going a goal down we have the mentality to get back in the game and on another day I think we would have won the game. Liam had a great chance to put us ahead, but the pleasing think is he was making that position to score, disappointing that he didn’t score but w e had opportunities after that, we hit the post and Kevin Cawley had a shot that was deflected wide, and we had a couple of our opportunities and thoroughly deserved the goal that we did score, it was a great finish from Kevin, but in play I thought we dominated the game today. I thought we played well and was disappointed to in 1-0 behind at half time, it is more disappointing because it was another goal we conceded that I think we could have prevented but by the same token I cannot fault my players for effort or the way we played, I thought we controlled the game today. It was great for Kevin to get back on the scoresheet as he has been out ill recently and it was great for him to come back into the side and get the goal, it was a goal deserved because I thought he worked extremely hard today and made some good runs and got himself in some good areas to score and eventually that was rewarded. I said to the players we must keep believing in what we are doing is correct, I don’t think there is much wrong but just making sure we don’t concede sloppy goals.
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