Alloa Athletic had to come back from being one goal down against local rivals Stirling Albion to keep going their unbeaten record against “The Binos” since 7th March, 2009. Once again Alloa proved as they had on numerous occasions last season their ability to come back from going a goal behind, such is their character and will to win.

The Wasps made three changes from the team that had faced Hibernian at Easter Road, Chris Henry made his first competitive start, in place of Neil Parry who is still recovering from facial knock at Easter Road. Andrew Stirling and Liam Buchanan started in place of Adam Brown & Alan Trouten who were on the bench.

The first half of this match was not one to look back on, although “The Wasps” had the bulk of the play it would be fair to say there were not a lot of chances on goal.

The opening goal came six minutes in the second period when David Wilson curled home a beauty of a free kick to give the visitors the lead.

Game on, Peter Grant introducing Alan Trouten just before the hour mark which was to prove pivital. Alloa were noe pushing forward and getting the ball into the box and looking far more dangerous. It was fitting that Kevin O’Hara would score the equaliser as he had been a threat to the Albion defence all evening.

Stirling Albion introduced all three of their substitutions and were looking to manage the game out at 1-1, but “The Wasps” were looking to get a winner. Four minutes from time Andy Graham’s netbound header was pushed out by Stirling Albion goalkeeper Cameron Binnie and Liam Buchanan pounced to dive home and net the rebound, 2-1 to “The Wasps”

Chris Henry saves at feet of Dom Docherty

David Wilson scores for Stirling Albion

Kevin O'Hara scores his first goal for "The Wasps"

Andy Graham's header is pushed out by keeper............

Liam Buchanan scores at back post

Game over full-time

peter grant after victory over stirling albion

It is always great to win I have said that many times that’s what we are out here to do is win games of football, we got a bit frustrated because we didn’t move the ball quick enough and everybody was running all over the place, you need patience and you will get there, let the ball do the running. We think running about making wrong errors and killing space for other players that gave us a problem in the first half, even although we had a lot of the ball we didn’t really create enough chances and work their keeper enough, I’m not here to play pretty patterns I’m here to pass the ball to create chances.

The players once again showed great desire and commitment to try and do things which was asked of them, I thought Alan Trouten coming on changed the game for us, he was excellent. He gave us that little bit of space and the pass, with the intelligence he showed to find the space, not just follow the ball and I think that created space for others.

It is great for your strikers to get their goals, Kevin O’Hara got his first goal for the club but the most important thing is Kevin is getting a run of games again, I always wanted to have him as a striker and this will get his career back on track. Liam Buchanan does not need to prove anything at this level he is a goalscorer.

Neil Parry after suffering his injury at Easter Road on Saturday is aiming to be back for the opening league game against Partick Thistle, we are hoping it is not going to be too long term, young Chris who came in tonight made a few errors but his distribution was great and this will be great experience for him and a great opportunity for him.

At this time we are decent with the ball, but still have a bit to go, when we do not have the ball we need still to be chasing the ball down to get behind it, so we need to be much tighter when we do not have possession.

Going forward to Arbroath on Saturday this will not be an easy game, Dick and Iain demand the maximum from their team, so we know what we will be up against, they will not make it easy for you, so we will know you are in a game every time you play Arbroath, the most important thing for us is the guys getting more minutes on the pitch. I now know the players I want to bring in and the areas in want to bring in, so it is just binding our time and waiting till the right players become available but we have a hell of lot good players at the club already.

“The Wasps” lost out after a penalty shoot-out in their opening Betfred Cup tie v. Elgin City at The Indodrill Stadium on Tuesday 16th July, 2019. peter Grant’s side were twice behind 0-1 and 1 – 2 before going 3 -2 ahead with fifteen minutes to go, but credit to Elgin City who never gave up and scored a late equaliser five minutes from time.

Alan Trouten watches effort come back off the crossbar

Russell Dingwall free kick puts Elgin 1-0 ahead

Alan Trouten again goes close

Alan Trouten equalises 1 - 1

Shane Sutherland puts Elgin back in front 2-1

Liam Buchanan fires the Wasps level 2-2

Kevin Cawley gives Alloa 3-2 lead

Stephen Bronsky scores late equaliser 3-3

Penalties

peter grant after defeat in penalty shootout

Obviously disappointed at outcome of tonight’s game but not the performance, the goals were disappointing, we had spoke about losing goals especially the second one, I had noticed in the Livingston game last week about our marking, I wasn’t happy with that, so we spoke about that and then conceded again tonight, “Robbo” apologised he is still a young man learning the game but we need that concentration level.

In general play, I thought we played a lot of good stuff but losing three goals from three set plays which we had spoken about, we shouldn’t be losing three goals from set plays and every goal we scored we had to work hard for. We had a lot of young boys on the bench this evening who had earned that opportunity; we are still looking to bring in new guys, which are important to build the group up which is important.

The cup is important for us, we want to win every game we play, that never changes and we will look to go and put out on a similar performances with the ball at Hibernian, but we need to be tougher with the ball and be hard to beat, we need to keep playing that way moving and turning the ball over but at set Plays, 80% in Championship are scored at set plays.

So pleased with generally our play but need to cut out silly mistakes.

Four games in two weeks appeared a bridge to far for “The Wasps” on Saturday against Ross County at the Indodrill Stadium. In truth Ross County were worthy winners on the day but with the scoreline still at only 1-0, the second goal not coming until two minutes into time added on an the end of the game, Jim Goodwin’s players gave everything knowing that a draw on the day would have been good enough to win the section.

Ross County looked to bounce back from their midweek reversal against Arbroath at Gayfield and certainly Stuart Kettlewell & Steven Ferguson must have been pleased with the reaction, giving Alloa very little space and quickly closing players down and winning second balls.

The Wasps did well to go in at half-time at 0-0, thanks to some excellent goalkeeping by Neil Parry. The opening goal when it did come just before the hour mark had a touch of fortune about it, defender Callum Morris deflecting a shot across goal past Neil Parry.

The closest “The Wasps” came to getting an equaliser was through Greig Spence about fifteen minutes prior to the end of the game, his overhead kick left County keeper Scott Fox stranded as he watched as the ball creeped inches past the wrong side of the post.

Alloa manager Jim Goodwin could not fault his players effort on the day but did conceed County were physically stronger and taller and he is still on the look out to strengthen his squad.

jim goodwin after wasps go out to ross county

It was a disappointing day, I couldn’t have asked any more from my players in terms of effort from the boys but I think it was just one game too far, to be honest we had four games in two weeks and we have a very small squad and I think that showed today. We were a little bit leggy I am being honest but in fairness I think Ross County were the better team on the day, there is no arguments there. I went to watch them against Arbroath and I knew they couldn’t be as bad as they were on Wednesday night and I was expecting a reaction and I think they got that, they were the better team. We didn’t create anything of note, I can’t remember us making Scott Fox make a save. We are disappointed to have got eight points from a very difficult group, but were nowhere near getting through in the end. We knew had to get at least a point, to achieve nine points before a ball was kicked today, as it is a point today would have won us the group. It would have been great but unfortunately it just wasn’t to be – We need to pick ourselves up now and look forward to the league campaign starting next week.

I  think if you look at the goals we conceded today, there was not a great deal we could do about them, we defended a corner well initially and it was a ball knocked back into a crowded box which takes a deflection and goes in, it was not like we had been carved open. The second goal we were committing bodies forward which  wouldn’t have happened normally, so I’m not really bothered about the goals against it would be different if we had been getting picked off and lose the game to four or five goals I would be concerned, I’m not concerned the lads have put in a great about of effort in the last couple of weeks, we have been played well picked up some decent results, scored a lot of goals but the evidence is there that the squad is light and I will need to work hard this week to try and get some bodies in and help the lads out because I limited to the amount of chances in could make; I had a couple of defenders on the bench that realistically weren’t going to come on and change the game, the one change I could make was bringing on Adam Brown but it would be nice to have one or two more attacking options so that will be my main job before the transfer window closes.

Jim Goodwin and the players can be proud of their performance yesterday against a Hibernian side who are clearly in a rich vein of form and will look to impose themselves on the Premier League this season, this was a huge improvement from “The Wasps” after the disappointment at Links Park. Losing an early goal after only fifteen minutes could have unsettled the players but to their credit they stuck to their task and were unlucky not to equalise when Alan Cook had his netbound shot cleared off the line by Hibernian captain Darren McGregor.

The second goal which made it an uphill task was questionable on two accounts, firstly Jon Robertson was fouled in the middle of the park before Hibernian broke and Simon Murray appeared to handle the ball as he scored the goal.

Martin Boyle hand been a handful all day for the Alloa defence and it was him who set up all three goals, the third a bullet header by Simon Murray. “The Wasps” had one last chance when Kris Renton was allowed to break through but his chip shot was saved by keeper Ofir Marciano.

jim goodwin after hibernian game

To lose the game 3-0 is disappointing, but I think in terms of how we played overall it was quite pleasing. I think if anybody had been at our game in midweek at Links Park we were really poor and I asked for a reaction today and I think we got one, I think we played a lot better in possession of the ball than we have played in recent weeks, I thought we defended well enough for most of the game and when I look back at the goals I think – the first one was a decent goal from Hibs point of view, they cut us open, defensively we could look at that. The second goal I felt it was a foul in the middle of the park when Jon Robertson was given a wee nudge, it might have been soft at the time but I had seen them given throughout the afternoon, so I would like a look at that one again, but when it went to 2-0 its an uphill task, the third goal from Hibs point of view was a fantastic ball into the box, a great run from Simon Murray and a great header, sometimes you just have to hold your hands up, if you lose good goals like that, when teams have to do a lot to score, sometimes you just have to accept it. Overall I thought the performance was better than what we have been putting in lately. I Would much rather go into the Raith Rovers game on the back of that performance than the performance last Tuesday night against Montrose at Links Park.

The players were claiming for a handball at the second goal, it looked like he knock it in with his hand but we were more concerned on giving a good account of ourselves, Hibernian were expected to turn up and win, they had scored four and six goals in their past two Betfred Cup ties, we knew how difficult the group was going to be, we knew how difficult our task today would be, at 1-0 I felt if we just stayed in the game we would get an opportunity but the second goal killed that thought. Hibs are a very good side and Neil Lennon is talking about finishing second in the league behind  Celtic and try and get as close as they can. They are two divisions above us they have loads of quality, a team full of internationals, I look at his squad and his bench you can only but envy his choice of players he has behind him. Hibs are a big club and they have great expectation.

I felt my boys did well today, to stick with them as well as we could today, there is two divisions between us and I’m pleased our players were brave enough to go and get on the ball and we tried to play when we could, I would have liked the result to be a bit closer but it wasn’t to be it has been a disappointing tournament for us this season overall, we need to take the positives from today into next Saturday when it really matters in our opening league fixture against a very good Raith Rovers side. We want to get off to a winning start.

For the second time in recent months “The Wasps” were to lose out in a Penalty-Shoot. Dick Campbell’s newly promoted Arbroath side started the game very brightly and were rewarded in 16th minute when new signing Blair Yule was on hand to head home a Danny Denholm cross. The Wasps stormed back after losing the opening goal, Andy Graham was very unlucky on the half hour when his header just went wide, this after he had already been denied by the woodwork. Arbroath themselves looked lively and were a threat going forward with efforts from Doris, Linn and ex Wasp Omar Kader.

In the second half “The Wasps” had the lions share of possesion as Arbroath defended deeper looking to hold on to their early goal. The introduction of Adam Martin and Thomas Grant on the hour added to the dominance and a goal looked only a matter of time. The Wasps were rewarded for their perseverance with a deserved equaliser in the closing minutes, Frank McKeown scoring his first goal for the club with a fierce shot across goal.

Both teams shared one point each, but there was still a bonus point for the team which won the penalty shoot out. Scott Taggart, Steven Hetherington, Iain Flannigan & Andy Graham all scored to give “The Wasps” a chance of victory at 4-3, Kris Renton however was denied by a save from visiting keeper Ricky Gomes. Adam Martin regained the lead for “The Wasps” but in sudden death Thomas Grant’s effort was too straight and David Gold had the honour to clinch the bonus point for Arbroath, which he completed.

jim goodwin after penalty defeat in betfred cup

It was a disappointing way to lose the game tonight, the boys are gutted in the dressing room, but when you gift teams a soft goal of a start it gives them something to hang onto, they made it difficult for us tonight, we had plenty of the ball and possession but found them very hard to break down at times, but in fairness to the boys they kept going and it looked like one of these games where we could have been here all night and never scored, we probably didn’t work their goalkeeper enough, although we had good possession we lacked a bit of creativity in the final third, the goal was a great goal from Frank up to then we had looked most likely to score from set plays where we had looked dangerous with great quality coming in from Iain Flannigan and Alan Cook.

Then on to penalties………..which is our second time in a couple of months, we know it is a lottery at the end of the day and the two we missed weren’t hit as well as the lads would have liked both normally strike a dead ball well, so I think they will want another crack at it. Credit to Arbroath, they were organised resilient and they gained the extra point. In our position now we can only hope Ross County win all their games, convincingly to do us a favour, they would need to beat Hibs and then we would need to win our final two games and see what seven points would give us, I’m not even sure seven points would be enough to see us through as one of the best runners up? There is no chance we can win the group now but we still hold a chance of finishing second and sneak in.

Initially we feared the worse for Craig Malcolm on Saturday it was a nasty tackle and the reaction was it was a serious injury, however he had the x ray on Sunday morning and thankfully there is no fracture or break but some ligament damage which might keep him sidelined a couple of weeks but possibly four weeks, Craig is a strong boy and will want to get back involved as soon as possible.

The boys will be back in for training on Friday night, have the weekend off and be ready to face Montrose next Tuesday evening.