Competition: Championship

Alloa Athletic v Falkirk

This was a huge result for “The Wasps” and throughly deserved on the day, Alloa Athletic looked to be positive after feeling aggrieved at getting nothing from last week’s game against Queen of the South, in a game “The Wasps” deserved something from their display. The previous two local derbys this season against Falkirk had ended 0-0 and although there was no scoring in the first half on Saturday both teams had opportunities to score. As in most games in this division the first goal is all important and when it came – what a goal it was, already a contender for goal of the season, a brilliant individual goal by Eddie Ferns, the goal along with the fact, Falkirk had just had Phil Roberts sent off gave the home side a lift and a great belief the game was there for the taking. Kevin Cawley added the second goal bulleting home a header at the back post and Ryan McCord increased the margin of the victory by then heading home from a superb Liam Caddis cross, 3-0. The Wasps ended the game well on top and were unlucky not to make it four when another shot struck the crossbar. This was a huge three points for the club with only seven matches remaining this season, on Tuesday night “The Wasps” will travel to Livingston in another difficult game, but it is another chance to clinch more league points and add to the 37 points already gained.

 

barry smith after derby victory

Since I’ve come in, there have been good performances at home, but we needed a result – but our performance today lead to a good result but we will not get carried away with the result but it is a good result for us. Gary Holt has Falkirk playing very good this season but the way we set up – was to go and be positive and I thought we played well in the first half and capitalised in the second half. The performance was good in the first half but in the second half they lifted their game and started to believe again in their own ability which was built on their first half performance and also parts of the game last week against Queen of the South when we deserved something out of the game –they took the belief from that and I think that showed in the second half. We scored three goals after the sending off, but we had chances before as well, I don’t think the sending off was the turning point, more the fact the players took more belief in themselves. We said to the players last week – we need to get players in the box and two of our goals today were from crosses and that was from getting players in the box and the other goal was an excellent individual goal, three different scorers, all strikers, delighted for them. We still need to look after ourselves, Tuesday against Livingston, will be another important game for us, we just need to look at getting another three points and then we do not need to bother about anything else, we will bother about our selves and continue down that road. I have great belief in the players and I think in the second half they were starting to believe in themselves once again.
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Alloa Athletic v Queen of the South

Another frustrating game for “The Wasps” in the fact that it was another home game which ended without any reward. Every game at this stage of the season is going to be difficult but on Saturday the players can feel rightly aggreived that they picked up nothing in a game they deserved something out of the game. The first goal is always so important and Andy Dowie scored for Queen’s after only minutes with a header at the back post. “The Wasps” battled back and never gave in, Eddie Ferns did brilliantly well to get to the bye line and cut back for Andy Kirk who just failed to connect in front of goal.

 

barry smith after qos game

I thought the boys deserved to get something out of the game today, I thought in the first half it is as good as we have played since I have been here, we created chances, had a lot of possession and limited Queen’s to very little, obviously disappointed to lose the goal in the manner we did. The second half was scrappy but I think we did enough to take something from the game. The players showed a great reaction after going a goal down, they kept at it, the retention of the ball was much better than it has been previously at home, we just need to cut out the wee errors which are costing us big at the moment. We don’t look at our recent home form, we need to put it to the back of our minds you can’t keep thinking about it and move on to the next game and work hard towards the next game to do better and make sure we get three points next Saturday. We had selection problems prior to the came with Liam Lindsay, James Creaney and Jason Marr unavailable, but Daryll moved into central defence and did well and Jonathan Tiffoney has come and handled the situation well, it is not natural for him to play on the left but he did fine. Daryll Meggatt picking up another booking which will see him missing a game soon, probably in a fortnights time but we will wait and see, but “Tiffers” has shown he is capable to cover. We were light on numbers today and a couple of the boys on the bench were carrying knocks as well, so we can hope by next week they can be 100% fit. Graeme Holmes came off with a problem with his back, so we again will need to wait until training on Tuesday to see how he reacts. We need to concentrate on our own results and not looking at others round about us, we have to be picking up points we cannot hope that someone else doesn’t manage to pick up points – we need to make sure we pick up points and as long as we worry about ourselves we won’t be far wrong.
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Cowdenbeath v Alloa Athletic

“The Wasps” battled to their fourth game undefeated away from home when they faced Cowdenbeath at Central Park on Saturday. Despite going ahead in the game twice on Saturday, in very windy conditions, a point for “The Wasps” was a better point for them than Cowdenbeath, which still leaves a five point advantage with only nine league games left. Andy Kirk returned to lead the attack, with Eddie Ferns unavailable due to work commitments, and Darren Young was added to add steel in the midfield. The players battled throughout and took the lead in the fourth minute when Kevin Cawley played in Graeme Holmes close to the bye line and he managed to evade Lewis Milne and John Armstrong, before scoring from an acute angle, Rory McKeown trying vainly to stop the ball on the line. Greg Stewart did equalise for the home side eight minutes before half time with a great turn and individual skill. Cowdebeath then had the advantage of the strong wind in the second half and “The Wasps” had to thank Scott Bain for pulling off important saves as Cowdenbeath pushed to take the lead. Just before the hour mark Ryan McCord scored a terrific goal to put “The Wasps” 2-1 ahead. Rory McKeown, who is on loan to Cowdenbeath from Kilmarnock was causing the Alloa defence problems with his long throw ins directly into the box and Greg Stewart pounced on a clearance which he bulleted past Scott Bain for the equaliser. As time was running out Cowdenbeath had the last chance but again Scott Bain pulled off a great save to make sure “The Wasps” returned home with a deserved share of the points.

 

barry smith at central park

It was a good battling point, Central Park, Cowdenbeath is never an easy place to come but I thought the boys worked ever so hard to make sure we came away with something. A wee bit disappointed in the fact we were ahead twice, the players gave me everything they had and at times had to throw their bodies in front of shots and our keeper has had a couple of great saves, but it is another point gained, we would have preferred the three but we will take one point. Our away form has been good recently, we take confidence from coming to a place like Central Park and tried as hard as we did, we still came away with a point and that is now four games undefeated away from home so we now need to take that confidence into our home games. It wasn’t a great game, spoiled at times by the conditions, we are not kidding on it was very difficult conditions with the wind but these are the games you have to take something from, as I said we would have preferred the three points but conditions are like that we must we grateful to take the point.
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Alloa Athletic v Hamilton Academical

After collecting four points out of six in last two games, and starting to move up the league table, losing a goal as early as the 26th second of the game against one of the promotion favourites, Hamilton Accies certainly had a huge reflection in how the game transformed this time. Having already beaten Hamilton Accies on two previous occasions this season, concentration would be required for the full ninety minutes if we were to take something from yesterday’s fixture, but losing three goals inside the first twenty minutes of the game due to lack of concentration and clinical finishing by the visitors gave “The Wasps” a mountain to climb. In the second half the players kept going and showed great spirit but the damage had been done in the opening twenty minutes. Next week “The Wasps” will now travel to Central Park, Cowdenbeath in a huge game for both clubs.

 

barry smith after accies defeat

We had set up to make it difficult for Hamilton but if you concede a goal as early as we did, and the manner of the goal, it then makes it an uphill struggle. There appeared to be no communication in the mix up at the first goal which is something we should be doing better. After that, losing a goal as early as we did in the game, we never really got going, but the heads certainly never went down because we kept playing and definitely competed a lot better in the second half. It has been a hard week for us but we have picked up four valuable league points, people look at other results to teams round about us but we have just to concentrate on our results and we know we can do better than we performed today, next weeks game against Cowdenbeath will be a good game to be involved in. I don’t think I will need to pick the players up after today’s defeat but just make sure they do the right things, correctly next week from the first minute, we have had bad starts before but in the Raith Rovers game and also last Saturday against Morton we had very good starts in these games and that makes a difference. Hamilton Accies are a good team, I can’t take that away from them, they played well, they took their chances they were clinical, so credit to them for their performance.
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Raith Rovers v Alloa Athletic

 

barry smith at starks park

I am delighted with four points out of six from our last two games because they were two very difficult away trips. I was delighted the way the players dug in when they had to in the second half especially after the shift they put in against Morton at the weekend and we showed some good resilience. The boys are all very fit. We are a team that work very hard for the full ninety minutes and I think that shows. Liam is just a young boy but he has came in and did very well for us. He still has a lot to learn in the game but he definitely going in the right direction. There were at 1-1 some small chances for us. They had the majority of the play and there was a lot of good blocks from our defenders but you always hope you can maybe nick one on the break after defending so well. We just need to concentrate on ourselves and take all of the positivity from the last few games into the weekend now against Hamilton. Hopefully now the boys are starting to get that wee bit of confidence coming back as well as some self belief and we will take that into Saturday’s game.
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Greenock Morton v Alloa Athletic

 

barry smith at cappielow

Cappielow is a difficult place to come, but the boys started the game better than they have been doing in previous weeks and I think it gave us something to work with. I thought in the first half we did very well and in the second half, it’s what’s this league is all about – grinding out results and I am delighted the hard work, effort, commitment that the players have put in. Scott pulled off an important save from David Robertson, but I think he has done that all season and credit to him, when Morton had their chances he has pulled off the saves when required, but it was a great team effort, which is the most important factor, the team when required were able to grind out such an important result today. We are now looking forward to our next game on Tuesday night against Raith Rovers at Kirkcaldy, but hopefully the players can take a bit of confidence knowing if we have to grind out a result we will and if we get the chance to go and play, which is difficult in this league then we will go and try and play, people have said this is a big win but it is three points. We are at a stage in the season it’s a good three points. We want to concentrate on what we do and not get drawn on other results elsewhere – teams will pick up points and lose points from now till the end of the season, as long as we pick up more and look after ourselves that’s the main thing. At the end it looked like we could have had a penalty kick, the slide marks are certainly inside the box, but the referee has not given it, we have won the game, it didn’t matter as much but it would have been a different story had we not won. Tuesday night will be another tough challenge but one the boys should go into that game feeling good and better about themselves and looking to take today’s performance into Tuesday’s game.
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Alloa Athletic v Livingston

Manager Barry Smith was disappointed in the manner in which “The Wasps” started today’s game against Livingston, Craig McDowall being called upon in the opening minute to pull off an important save. The visitors took the lead after twenty minutes when Simon Mensing was left unmarked in the box to sweep home the opening goal and it wasn’t until the same player was red carded for a goal stopping challenge on Derek Riordan that Alloa started to get back into the game. “The Wasps” with the one man advantage were now on the ascendancy but could now find the net. Derek Riordan’s net bound shot striking the keeper and going to safety. Then out of the blue Martin Scott tried an audacious strike from just over the half way line which caught Craig McDowall off his line and changed the game back in the favour of the visitors, a late goal made in 3-0. This was a bad result and one the players will look to put right next Saturday when they visit Cappielow to play Kenny Shiels, Morton.

 

barry smith after livingston defeat

We didn’t start the game well and we struggled to get into it, once their player got sent off we were on the ascendancy, the second goal was a great strike but we still have to be doing better. The sending off should have changed the game in our favour but unfortunately we didn’t capitalise on it, but I was more concerned with the start of the game cause we didn’t start properly, we need to start games better, rather than trying to find our feet, we need to start in the first minute. We didn’t start the game well and then struggled to get into the game. Everybody knows Derek Riordan’s ability, the goals which he has scored and that’s why he is here cause at the moment we are struggling to score goals and hopefully bringing him in will help our other strikers as well. On another day Derek might have scored – either running through when he got brought down or the strike he had, which is one of these the keeper has stood big and saved it but there was a couple of other chances when the ball flashed across the face of the goal and a touch was all which was required – but we will keep working at it, but the most disappointing thing today was the start we had. Next week against Morton is just another game, we will go and compete and both teams will be looking to get three points, today’s result doesn’t change our will to win next week. I think the players were low on confidence before I came here and I am now trying to pick them up, but there are certain aspects I will not accept in today’s game but there are other things we will work on to be better. Although we have brought in Derek Riordan, it is also about the other players responding, playing alongside a guy of his ability and hopefully we can get others players up to that ability as well. I have full confidence in being able to raise the confidence of the players.
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Dundee v Alloa Athletic

Alloa Athletic FC after a turbulent last fortnight bounced back where it mattered most on Saturday, on the park. New manager Barry Smith watched from the Dens Park stand as his side gained a good point against Dundee, who had previously edged the previous games against “The Wasps” this season by the tightest of margins, again it looked like another penalty might seperate the teams. However the Alloa Athletic players never gave up and it was a credit deserved when Ben Gordon equalised after great work on the wing by substitute Iain Flannigan had created the opening. This was a positive display as the players looked to impress their new manager and indeed prove this is still a lot of football to be played this season

 

paddy connolly at dens park

A good point in the end obviously, getting such a late goal but the boys fought really hard and showed good team spirit, which is exactly what I expected and with the new manager watching from the stand he will see the boys are fighting for each other, which has been the case since the start of the season been recently we have been going through a bit of a sticky patch and when that happened some of the decisions go against you, the penalty decision, my gut feeling was that it was a great tackle and it wasn’t a penalty, but it happens and later I was more worried about the players getting more bookings cause we cannot really afford that at this stage of the season, but maybe getting the goal at the end, meant that the boys were in good spirits coming off. I know Dundee had a lot of the ball, our game plan was to try and soak up the pressure, which worked for good spells in the game and we had the two players up top, but I would like if they had been more of a threat but overall I thought we deserved at least a point, so pleasing we at least took something from the game – this season Dundee have knocked us out of the Ramsden’s Cup and edged us in the other league games by a single goal, that is the first time this season we have taken a point from them, so in that aspect pleasing, there is good signs there for the manager – the fighting spirit, they are all fighting for each other, the young lad Liam Lindsay who came in for his debut on loan from Partick Thistle did well but we are still a wee bit stretched in numbers, Kevin Cawley was out suspended today, Jason Marr & James Creaney were injured but the lads who came in did well, Eddie Ferns did well when he came on, Iain Flannigan helped create the goal so from that point of view they all played their part. Certainly a bit of a morale boost prior to next Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Dumbarton, after losing the penalty after 69 minutes and going behind we had to change things a little bit and try and throw bodies forward and sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn’t, Eddie went wide right and I said to Ben Gordon we will just have to go man to man at the back, we were as well losing 2-0 as 1-0 and at that point threw Ben forward and Ben has come up trumps with the late equaliser, he took the goal well and he has done that a couple of times this season so for that point of view pleasing. Pleased more for the players it has been a tough couple of weeks for them with everything that has happened – losing their manager, but now they have a new manager to impress. We are in there fighting now, we are at the stage of the season where I think it is more important you get results than performances but I felt we got both today and we got a point out of the game, I would like to have been a wee bit more in the final third with the ball but we can’t have everything and we could have scored in the first half but pleased in the circumstances with a point.
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Alloa Athletic v Dumbarton

 

mike mulraney, alloa chairman

This is somewhat of an unusual after match conference, normally the chairman wouldn’t be speaking first before the manager – The manager and I have had a chat and while I would rather he hadn’t made this decision, and we have had a long discussion about why he has made that decision, I respect the fact that if it’s how he feels and what he wants to do, his relationship with myself is one that is that I respect that decision. It’s not one that I wanted him to make but I am not happy he has made this decision but is one I do respect regardless of my personal feelings about it – therefore I can confirm that with enormous regret and not something I wished to happen I have accepted Paul’s resignation not because I want to but because my respect for Paul is such that I feel that once he tells me that he wants to do something and he is adamant about it and he is committed to that decision. I know that it is not something that he has taken lightly so I can confirm and will hand over to Paul shortly that Paul has decided that he believes that his tenure at Alloa Athletic has come to a natural end – again I would reiterate that I have less experience than Paul at footballing matters and I feel that Paul could still do an outstanding job for Alloa but once he has made his decision he deserves the respect of his chairman to accept it and that is what I have done.

paul hartley on resignation

The decision today is nothing to do with getting beat 5-1 because I have had other bad results in the 2 ½ years I have been here but over the last couple of weeks I have just felt that my time is up with Alloa Athletic, the journey was going to end and get someone else in to regenerate the players here. It is something I have thought about and I spoke to the chairman today. I have had a great 2 ½ years here and it was not a split second decision to do with the result. I just feel it is time for someone else to come along and get the success that I had – every manager has a shelf life and we have had great success here – we came from the third division with no players and have taken the team along to the championship. I have been having a think about it over the last couple of weeks in terms of how I have been feeling and sometimes you get a sense of things and your players – they have been absolutely brilliant for us but it happens sometimes I am sure I have left the club on a good footballing footing it is now up to someone else to take over – they will have a great chairman to work with – I have a great relationship with him and it has come as a shock to him and I have had a great group of players I have also had a great back room team also who have helped me all the way. I have no future plans whatsoever – I will probably have a little break and I will think about the time I have had here and the enjoyment. We have come from the 3rd division with a lot of hard work and a lot of stress and strain on the way but I have left the club with a great footballing side considering where we came from. I am sure whoever comes in to take the job they will have a great chairman and a good team and I am sure they will do well here. There is no doubt I still believe the group of players at the club are good enough to stay in the championship by the end of this season. Sometimes you just need a fresh face in to keep them going. Eight or nine of the players have been with me since the start at the third division and I am sure whoever comes in, the players will work for them as they have for me. I am sure the chairman will pick the right man. He is a fantastic chairman to work with. We have had a great success and never had a fall out in the 2 ½ years that I have been here and I would like to thank him for giving me this opportunity in terms of getting into football management but I have made up my mind and it is 100%. I just think it is the way I am feeling sometimes you are at a club even as a player and you just need a fresh challenge sometimes and I feel that I have definitely taken the club as far as I can go but there is no way I have lost the players in the dressing room – we had a bad result today but that happens along the way. I am sure Alloa will stay up – I have kept them in a good position we are not near the bottom of the league what we have done here has been a remarkable job. Paddy Connolly will take charge of the club for the next few weeks until the chairman sorts something out.

Mike Mulraney continues –

Paddy will take charge of the club for the next few weeks – I have spoken to Paddy and for the avoidance of doubt Paddy has intimated that he does not want to be the manager moving forward on a full time basis but he has got the full support of the back room and the full support of the board and the team and one thing I would say that I said to the players and I said to the back room and I know the directors are all aware of is one day those players out there will be talking to their kids and their grandchildren about the fact that they played under Paul Hartley – just as much as the same as the very best managers that are here at the moment in the top clubs throughout Europe – the players who were there at the start of their careers say that and one day those players who are along in the Alloa dressing room today will be able to say to their kids and grandchildren we played under that man. It has been fantastic having Paul here – he has been an outstanding credit to Alloa Athletic Football club, an outstanding servant, an outstanding manager whose dedication to the cause was above and beyond anyone’s recognition and understanding so a big thanks to Paul for all the work he has done with the club and be under no illusions that personally if I had the choice my next manager would be – quite clearly – one pick – Paul Hartley. Thank you.
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Queen of the South v Alloa Athletic

“The Wasps” went down to their third defeat in their last four games in the league, the difference between the teams on the day was that Queen of the South took their chances and scored the important first goal, from which they took confidence. Certainly Alloa manager Paul Hartley was disappointed to lose the match but knows the team were creating their own chances but need to be more clinical in front of goal. Alloa started brightly and Andy Kirk and Stephen Simmons had chances to put the visitors in front before Queens got the break through after 30 minutes. In the second half Alloa again started well but were hit with a third goal for Queens against the run of play. Full credit to the Alloa Athletic players who never gave in and substitute Ross Caldwell, making his debut after joining from Hibernian on loan on Friday pulled a goal back and had the opportunity the close the gap further but shot over the bar. Next Saturday Dumbarton will visit Recreation Park in a game “The Wasps” will look to bounce back, looking to get back into winning ways.

 

paul hartley after defeat in dumfries

In terms of the goals we lost today we could have done better, but in terms of our attacking play today I can’t criticise my players, I thought we were excellent at times, however the difference was that they took their chances and we didn’t. Disappointed in the manner we lost the goals, we work a lot on the defensive side of our game at stopping crosses and they got two of their goals in that way, we allowed too many crosses into our box today. It was two easy goals to prevent for my liking but in our attacking side of the game we had some good performances in terms of how we played and passed it and moved and we put them under pressure at times. We started the game really well in the first 15-20 minutes we were looking good and I was enjoying it and then they got the opening goal  which changed the game, it is a disappointing result and we must look to bounce back next week. Good for Ross Caldwell to score his goal, I thought he did well and after coming on, he looked a threat, a good presence and a good finish for his goal, which was one of the pleasing aspects with Ross getting his goal, I’m sure he will do well for us. We started the second half very well and were on top, the first time Queen’s go up the park they scored their third goal, that’s the thing you have to concentrate for the full ninety minutes and at times today we switched off in our defensive part of our game but as I have said in our attacking game we looked a threat with really good play and moments in the second half, but we need to get back to winning ways next week. We are still wanting to look upwards, it is a tough league and there is no easy games so we need to get back on track and pick a team to win the game next week. At half-time I said to the players, one goal and we are back in this game, what I did ask them is don’t give up, keep going all the way and fight till the end and they did that, they keep fighting till the end and never gave up and showed good spirit amongst themselves. Things got a bit heated with one or two challenges which were let away with but that’s the way it goes. Jason Marr had to go off, he was struggling with a thigh injury, so we are down on another centre half so I might need to see if I can bring someone else in and try and improve the squad. It was a nothing when I was sent to the stand, I thought the play should have been stopped, I said I thought the play should have been stopped, cause the lad had a head injury, he is in the dressing room just now with concussion, and to be fair in hindsight, maybe our players didn’t see it either in terms of putting the ball out of play. I didn’t swear at the ref, just thought the game should have been stopped because Liam Caddis had taken a head knock, but the ref decided to send me to the stand, so I just need to get on with it. He said it was my action in which I threw my arms, but I didn’t swear or anything.
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