Competition: Championship

Alloa Athletic v Dumbarton

 

danny lennon after dumbarton victory

Absolutely terrific today with three quality goals, a clean sheet and some very good football, coming in with such a short period of time, it is good to see, I know throughout the season the team have showed how good they can be and for me this week was all about building up their confidence and they certainly went out there with that and put on a very good display and showed just how good players they are.

The thing with the three teams at our end of the league, there will be more twists and turns before the end of the season, you have three highly motivated teams that are doing everything they can to try and make sure they can give themselves an opportunity to stay in this league, a league which will be every bit as competitive next season. Cowdenbeath have had a couple of decent, positive results and Livingston have had three very positive results lately and we had a very good win today so it is certainly in all three clubs hands.  I have no doubt there will be twists and turns from now until the beginning of May.

It’s important you look after your own performances and results and out of the three games left another two are at home and we need to make them count. At this stage I haven’t even worked with the players on Tuesday, Paddy and Jim Butter took the session, I observed the game on Wednesday night, there were pleasing things there,  the players had the night off on Thursday after the Hearts game, because it was important they were fresh for today’s game against Dumbarton, I thought it was important they recovered both physically and mentally before today’s game.

I could have gone on and talked about tactics but if they were not fit enough for today’s game then tactics go out the window. We came in today went over certain things on the tactics board before the game and I was absolutely delighted how the players showed great intelligence taking this on board and more importantly getting their rewards on the park, there was a lot of pleasing things today but there were also things I saw which we can improve on as well. I was asked if I was exhausted after my pitch side following of the game, but the thing is I have never had a bad game in six years, up and down that line winning headers, I don’t know how it finished 3-0 because I thought I had scored six!  Nobody expected us to go to Hearts and do anything, It was an opportunity for me watching some very brave performances at a ground that players like to go and test how they are doing.

After the Petrofac Cup game the players were certainly disappointed throughout the week but when I addressed the players on Tuesday for five/ ten minutes before training, one of the first things I said was “They would be bitterly disappointed about Sunday but they must make sure that goes out of the system very quickly and the players look forward, because what this club can do is that we can still have good success this season and surviving in this league would be a fantastic achievement for the club with the resources we have.

All our games will now be huge games, Queen of the South will be our next opponents and it is highly completive at the other end of the division, so we know it will not be a meaningless game for either club, but what we have to do this week at training is to build on today’s clean sheet and continue the good work of today. I freshened one or two things up today which gives me an opportunity to see the depth we have in the squad, I was delighted John Gibson came in and collected a few good balls, you can see the presence he has so I was pleased collectively for him and the team performance, it is always good to keep a clean sheet. There is no doubt they have showed just how good players they can be and deserve the right to be competing to stay in the Championship and all they need is a bit of guidance to build back their confidence.
3 - 0
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Heart of Midlothian v Alloa Athletic

 

paddy connolly at tynecastle

It has not been a good night in terms of Livingston and Cowdenbeath both winning, so it is not a great night, it was always going to be a difficult night coming to Tynecastle but I think there were still a lot of positives to take from the game, Danny was watching from the stand and we showed more of the things that we didn’t show on Sunday – playing with good shape but lost a goal at a bad time just before half-time which took a horrible deflection, I felt at times we could have kept the ball better but we are now at the stage in the season when all our games are “Must win games” especially with three home games, these home games are going to be vital for us now. The target now for Danny coming in is to give ourselves a chance, he will take the reins from tomorrow and give him a decent chance to keep us in the division. We are now at the business end of the season and we need the results on the board, the game against Dumbarton on Saturday has now become massive. We still have the belief we can get out of the situation, our goal difference is far superior to Cowdenbeath, so if we can get to within three points going into the last game of the season it would still be in our hands to still do that. However we need to start winning, starting on Saturday and we will need to throw everything into that game, hopefully the new manager coming in will give the boys the lift needed because we certainly have a squad of players capable of turning things around. We will go and be positive knowing that our home games are vital now, potentially we still need six or seven points from the remaining fixtures.
3 - 0
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Alloa Athletic v Livingston

 

paddy connolly after livi game

We are disappointed with the result and it feels a bit like a defeat. That was certainly the feeling in the dressing room afterwards. We had the lead twice in the match and I felt we had control of the game, but it is two really poor goals we lose and I will need to sit down with the players and look back at what went wrong. The positive is that it’s another point on the board and a vital one at this stage of the season. Hopefully it can help guide us closer to where we want to be and we will just pick ourselves up now and go again for the cup final.

I told the players after the match that decision making at this time of the season is going to be vital because it could mean the difference between a win and a draw so we have to improve that aspect. I don’t think the game was pretty at times, but there was a lot of passion on the pitch with two teams fighting for their lives and desperate for the points. There was plenty of talking points and goals in the match, which might have been good for the neutral, but not for us in the dugout. Overall, we are disappointed to still not get the win despite scoring twice.

We are ready to fight for a trophy now and we will enjoy this week with a break from the tension of the league, but there is no doubt we will be ready to do battle on Sunday. It is hard to say what effect this game will have on Sunday because this one was so intense with what was at stake for both teams in terms of league survival. Hopefully this Sunday both teams can play with more of a freedom to allow for a better football match. Cup finals don’t come along too often for players or coaches so it is an occasion we will savour.

Bucks is on fire just now in terms of goal at the minute and the timing of that couldn’t be better for us at this point in this season so it is the other aspects of the game we now need to improve on. We have had to take the criticism about not scoring enough goals over the season, but he has four in his last four games now and I will take that everyday of the week. We now need to have an all round performance now for the final and look to cut out the errors that are costing us cheap goals.

Chopra came in and showed flashes of the quality that he has especially at the first goal. It was a difficult game for him to come in, but his fitness is not too bad and he just needs some crucial game time to get him up to speed now. He had a big part in setting up the first goal and hopefully we can see more of that for the rest of the campaign.
2 - 2
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Raith Rovers v Alloa Athletic

The Wasps display at Starks Park against Raith Rovers was probably a reflection on our league campaign this season. We’ve gifted too many goals and passed up too many chances in a league which was always going to be difficult. We again contributed to our own downfall when we lost a bad defensive goal after creating chances of our own. The players never gave in and Liam Buchanan scored a great equaliser only four minutes after the team had gone behind, his twelfth goal of the season and his second of the week. However losing another goal so early in the second half again put the team behind again. The team battled on and looked to get back into the game but the home side nearly caught us out as the team pushed forward for an equaliser, Craig McDowall had to be at his best to keep the Raith Rovers forwards from increasing their lead. We now go into a massive game next Saturday against Livingston, the important thing is not to think about other teams, but only look after ourselves and secure a victory which would be massive. There have been some wonderful highs this season but as we enter the final games of the season we have six league games and one cup final to look forward, let’s go and show what we can do.

 

paddy connolly at kirkcaldy

Gutted at losing the game, in the first half I felt we had a spell when we were on top in the game, we created a couple of better than half chances but didn’t take them and the goal we lose at any level, it is a poor goal to lose, that seems to be where we are at this moment giving away cheap goals, I have said to the players in the dressing room, just clear the danger and we will argue about it at half-time, obviously there was a wee bit of indecision, but the striker showed good instinct to get in between Michael and Craig but from our point of view it was a poor goal to lose. Then we worked hard to get back in the game and Liam took his goal well but at the start of the second half switched off, but we will pick the boys back up at training on Tuesday and go again, nobody has really gained any points today in terms of the teams in the bottom three and we are all fighting it out to gain eighth place in the table. The players are fighting hard and on another day in the first half if we could have edged in front then maybe we might have been able to hang on. In the second half we lost our shape a bit as we pushed to get back in the game, I put on Michael Chopra and Greg Rutherford later in the game and had to sacrifice a wee bit in midfield, Craig had a couple of good saves to keep us in the game as we had to go man for man at the back. Our best spell was in the first half but we could never edge our nose in front and I think the second goal so early in the second half knocked the stuffing out of us a wee bit. We changed our formation but really huffed and puffed and never created too much in the second half. Next week’s game now becomes massive. We cannot afford to give away cheap goals but for our goals we have to work really hard, Liam took his goal well, it was good goal from our point of view, Liam held the ball up well and turned and had a decent hit into the bottom corner, which was pleasing, good for Liam, but he is a player who never lacks confidence. For next week we will be as we were in the fact that the chairman has asked me to take care of the team in the meantime and until he tells me different, but I’m sure if something was to change the club would make an official statement but at this stage I will continue game from game,  the players are fighting tooth and nail, but I’d just wish we could get a win  even if it takes a scrappy 1-0 victory for us but it doesn’t seem to be the case at this time but we will keep our spirits up, they were down after the game today, but they will be ready again to go next week, although we will need to check on Jason who looked to pull up after getting a knock with his hamstring, we are hoping it’s a tweak but it might need time, in the short term he might have to miss a couple of games, we have some walking wounded and are maybe top heavy up front just now but we will be ready for another huge game next Saturday against Livingston.
2 - 1
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Rangers v Alloa Athletic

In a remarkable day for the club and their fans, Alloa Athletic not for the first time this season came back from behind and scored an equaliser at Ibrox, showing great character and more importantly collecting another vital league point which was deserved on the night. Alloa Athletic had already grabbed the headlines earlier in the day after unveiling Michael Chopra as their most recent signing. This was another game Rangers under their new manager Stuart McCall were looking to kick start their season, but “The Wasps” have their own need for points and stunned the home fans by taking the lead early in the second half when Ben Gordon scored with a header. Rangers upped their tempo and two quick fire goals by Nick Clark within five minutes of each other looked to turn the game in the home sides favour, but this Alloa side have shown in the past they can come back from going behind to the Ibrox side. Eight minutes from time Ryan McCord put through a superb pass between two Rangers defenders and into the path of Liam Buchanan who ran on and clipped the ball past the despairing Cammy Bell and into the empty net, no more than “The Wasps” deserved on the night.

 

paddy connolly at ibrox

Obviously delighted to get a point, for teams like ourselves in the position we are in the table, we knew it was always going to be difficult coming to places like Ibrox, especially with the new management of Stuart McCall & Kenny Black coming in, you always get a reaction when a new manager comes in, especially at a massive club like Rangers. So from our point of view, great to get a point but maybe I’m being a wee bit greedy thinking we could maybe of stole all three, obviously delighted but I said to the players in the dressing room, you gave your lot, but I know our players always give everything, the one thing which has maybe let us down is results, in terms of points on the table, because we have always been in games, it is a great point and hopefully it will lift the spirits of the players, it feels like a victory coming here and getting a point, but I think it would be fair to say, we deserved it. We scored two great goals from our point of view, the first goal is a great header from Ben, if I am honest it is something he should be doing more often this season, he laugh’s as Ben is sitting next to him at time. My plan when we went 2-1 down in quick succession was to bring on a forward, we lost two goals maybe playing a bit deep at times, because we managed to get a goal in front it’s only natural and I was about to change it and go with another striker up top to try and get back in the game and it scuppered my plans when Buck’s equalised and that changed the mentality again. So delighted for the club and the players and we roll on to Saturday now when we will face Raith Rovers. Michael Chopra coming to the club was a no brainer, once I knew it could happen, a player with his Premiership experience and still only 31, I am hoping he can add something to the team and maybe give us these extra points we need to stay in this division. It’s good to move back up the table above Cowdenbeath but they still have a couple of games in hand, but there are massive games ahead, we know it is still in our hands but I don’t want to look further forward than Saturday’s game at Kirkcaldy, so there is a long way to go there are still seven league games to go which means 21 points to play for, so when you are down at our end of the table every point is a prisoner. The Chairman has asked me to take the manager’s position on a caretaker basis but I cannot look any further than Saturday, so at this time I am picking the team on a game to game basis, but our guys are a great bunch who have worked under Paul & Barry, Barry has added to the great work done by Paul, the players give an unconditional work rate no matter who the manger is, me in a short term and that’s great credit to the players.
2 - 2
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Alloa Athletic v Falkirk

Saturday’s game against Falkirk was another game this season where we will look back and wonder why we didn’t take something from the game – caretaker manager Paddy Connolly looked on and said “It was another sore result to take”. The Wasps had started the game brightly with Kevin Cawley, Daryll Meggatt, Mark Docherty & Ryan McCord having efforts on target, however it was Falkirk who would take the lead with their first effort on goal. Ryan McCord then had an effort ruled out for offside before the interval. Twelve minutes into the second half “Man of the Match” Kevin Cawley scored a deserved equaliser with a 25 yard solo effort, at this stage the home side were on top but were to lose top goalscorer, Greig Spence with an sickening head injury. The Wasps pushed for a winner and again were caught out against the run of play when John Baird was left in acres of space to put “The Bairns” back in front. Substitute Alex Cooper made it 3-1 with three minutes left to extend the margin which was cruel on the evening. However at this stage of the season it has to be all about results and the team moves on, facing another difficult fixture on Tuesday evening when they will meet Rangers at Ibrox Stadium.

 

paddy connolly after falkirk game

A bit of a sore one, first half I thought we played reasonably well, but it is the same again, losing the first goal was vital, a set piece, from a corner, decent finish but the boys switched off a wee bit. Peter did change his midfield, taking off one of his attacking midfielders and put on a defensive midfielder, which maybe tells you in terms of the midfield I believe we were winning the battle, but it’s still the same again in the goals we lost were really poor, I will need to see them on the video again, the second goal especially was really disappointing and then found it so hard to get back in the game, but I have spoke to the boys after the game and we just need to keep going, we are still in there fighting, we obviously know how difficult it is, there is no easy games but we will battle on, although we have a few walking wounded but we will pick ourselves up and go again on Tuesday at Ibrox , the boys gave their lot, it’s all I ask for.

When Kevin brought us back into the game with his goal, at that stage in the game it was deserved and at that point I thought we were in the ascendancy and my thoughts were to go and win the game but switching off for the second goal, although there are debates in that the player came short and they went with the runner and it left a big gap and john Baird had the freedom of the city and the time he had and it looked a poor goal to lose from our point of view, especially in how the players had worked so hard to get something out of the game. We knew at the start of the season how difficult it was going to be, but there has hardly been a game this season where we haven’t been in the game but the 3-1 score line is an unfair reflection on the way the game was but I will be in there battling with then until the end but we will keep battling until we turn it around.

Just now I am short term caretaker role, the Chairman has been great to work with, in the time I have been here, but it is now a decision for him to make, I’m just doing the job that he has asked me for the time being, so it is week by week at the moment and we will see how it goes but the main thing is the team is still fighting and we will keep going, it will be another big week for us facing Rangers on Tuesday and Raith Rovers next Saturday another two vital games for us.
1 - 3
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1 - 0
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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.
0 - 1
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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.
0 - 2
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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.
1 - 0
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