Season: 2008-09
Alloa Athletic v Brechin City
Victory today against Brechin City ended the season on a high note, the club eventually finishing 8th in the league, Arbroath’s shut out against Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park enough to keep John McGlashan’s side ahead of the Wasps on goal difference. A Greig Spence double before half time had people asking when an Alloa Athletic player had last scored a hat-trick at Recreation Park – 28th Nov, 2005, Ian Nicolson in Scottish Cup victory over Selkirk 9-0 or 31st January, 2004 when a Ross Hamilton hat-trick helped “The Wasps” defeat Forfar Athletic 4-0 in the league. The home side played well and at 2-0 ahead they might have increased their lead with efforts from John Grant and Andy Scott going very close. However Brechin City scored a good goal from the dangerous Stephen Ettien and then equalised when a long Ian Nimmo ball into the box was turned into his own net by keeper Raymond Jellema. However Alloa showed great character and substitute Hugh Kerr put over a great cross which top scorer Andy Scott headed past Craig Nelson to give the home side a deserved 3-2 victory.
allan maitland after survival secured in the final game
Its nice to finish the season with a bit of form, we certainly needed to find that form or we would have been in a play off spot, two wins and two draws at the end of the season was decent, but it is unfortunate it has taken so long for it to come I have to say, it has been a very disappointing season for us. However the one big plus for us is to finish the season with Greig Spence scoring goals, I’m hoping that will be a big plus for us for next season, in my whole time here with Alloa Athletic, we have struggled to find an out and out goalscorer, I think Brian Carrigan has helped him enormously, Greig has a bit of composure in front of goals which we have been missing, along with a natural thing that strikers have of finding space in the box, I was pleased for him today, because his two previous goals for the first team had been away from home and it was nice for him to score in front of his home supporters and getting his cheer coming off the park. It was important for us to win today, last game of the season, finish on a high, go and enjoy your summer, I have made a lot of changes already as far as the squad is concerned and there will be more to come, we need to try and strengthen and do better next season, I’m pleased to see us win today. Brechin were in a situation today where they are in the play off’s and they wouldn’t want to hammer in to it in case you get injured but as soon as they went 2-0 down and managed to get a goal back at 2-1 all of a sudden it was a game, your natural instinct kicks in and you want to get back in the game, they scored a second and had a bit of ascendency but we changed things, we brought on Shug Kerr and he did excellent setting up the winning goals, and again we ended up with four of our under 19’s on the park in the last part of the game. Shug did well and I put him on to gain experience today to see whether or not he is capable of doing it next season, so I was pleased to see him set it up the winning goal and Andy Scott score with only his second header of the season, because we have been counting them. Raymond Jellema has also asked be to point out the second Brechin City goal was an own goal my him in his final game for the club and not a Chris Townsley own goal!
 
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Ayr United v Alloa Athletic
Victory today against Brechin City ended the season on a high note, the club eventually finishing 8th in the league, Arbroath’s shut out against Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park enough to keep John McGlashan’s side ahead of the Wasps on goal difference. A Greig Spence double before half time had people asking when an Alloa Athletic player had last scored a hat-trick at Recreation Park – 28th Nov, 2005, Ian Nicolson in Scottish Cup victory over Selkirk 9-0 or 31st January, 2004 when a Ross Hamilton hat-trick helped “The Wasps” defeat Forfar Athletic 4-0 in the league. The home side played well and at 2-0 ahead they might have increased their lead with efforts from John Grant and Andy Scott going very close. However Brechin City scored a good goal from the dangerous Stephen Ettien and then equalised when a long Ian Nimmo ball into the box was turned into his own net by keeper Raymond Jellema. However Alloa showed great character and substitute Hugh Kerr put over a great cross which top scorer Andy Scott headed past Craig Nelson to give the home side a deserved 3-2 victory.
allan maitland at somerset park
We came into the game today with Ayr United having everything to play for and we had absolutely nothing to lose, a bit like Queen’s Park last week playing against us and throwing so many bodies forward. It was important for us today, to stay in the game and also to understand the pressure that Ayr United and their supporters desire to win the game, and we had to stand up to that and I think we did that really well. It was a big day for us and we had Gary Carroll, 19 years old, Greig Spence, 16 years old and Marc McCafferty who is still 18 years old in the team, so we had three young boys playing today and I was asking them the question before the game how will they stand up to the pressure today and I thought after the first ten minutes the three of them did really well, Greig Spence, I know his finish was magnificent for the goal, but his actual ability to stay on side before that was great, it would have been so easy just to be offside but he timed his run great. Obviously you feel for Ayr United, they have had a great season, but now they are in the play-off’s it is important for them to realise they still have so much to play for and instead of being despondent they have massive games coming up in the next fortnight and they have every chance of going on and winning them and still securing promotion through the play-off’s, I wish them all the best. For Alloa’s point of view, I don’t think we could have played any better than we did today, I think we were excellent, passed the ball well and created opportunities in the first half when we should have scored, we did score a chance in the second half although Gary Carroll had a great opportunity just after our equalising goal, which could have won the game. During all that our goalkeeper had two absolutely magnificent saves, the one at the end was absolutely magnificent, and the free kick which he touched on to the crossbar as well. I have been critical of Jellie this season, compared to last season, but today I thought he was excellent, albeit after the 15 minutes at the beginning when his decision making was poor, but he came through that and was fantastic today, We’ve done well and stayed up, which is the very least of your expectations, it has been a disappointing season for us, unfortunately we are getting to a stage now, a couple of weeks ago at Methil against East Fife and today when I am beginning to enjoy seeing the team play football again and then we reach the end of the season., a couple of months ago I couldn’t wait for this season to end, it was good today and I’m pleased we had a decent support with us today and I’m pleased they saw us play well, delighted and good luck to Ayr United.
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Alloa Athletic v Queen’s Park
This was a game Queen’s Park had to win and despite Gardner Spiers side having the best of the possession they very rarely troubled the Alloa defence. This maintains a vital four point advantage over Queen’s Park as we enter the final two games of the season. Queens failed to close the gap in a game which both sides lacked punch in front of goal, Ryan Holmes had the best chance for the visitors but shot weakly at Raymond Jellema and Alloa ended the game strongest and could have snatched all three points but Pat Scullion’s net bound shot was brilliantly turned over the bar by keeper Zander Cowie to keep the score line blank. Alloa certainly missed the presence of Stuart Noble up front, who has now returned to Airdrie United after his loan period with “The Wasps”.
allan maitland after queen’s park draw
I think at this stage of the season, which I said last week also, the team that needs to win usually wins and I think today we had a situation where Queen’s Park probably needed to win the game more than us and I think that showed right from the start, their energy and the ability to be on the ball was better than us and they will feel unfortunate not to have won, but they never really created much, maybe one chance near the end. However Alloa Athletic have started to do something we haven’t been able to do this season and that’s keep another clean sheet, our centre backs and John Grant in particular were magnificent also with Brown Ferguson. That spine of the team with Chris Townsley, Scot Buist, John Grant and Brown Ferguson I thought they were magnificent but we as a team didn’t pass the ball well, we didn’t contain enough of the ball, we didn’t cause them enough problems but strangely enough for not playing well and Queen’s on the day being miles better than us and they will rightly feel aggrieved, if its not us that are in the play off, I would wish them ever success, but having not played well we had enough chances near the end of the game to win the game and I except Queen’s Park were chasing the game but it did give us that opportunity to get in behind them and we had chances to kill that game and should have done so. I am pleased with the draw, a result which means we are still in a much much better position that Queen’s Park are at this stage of the season and hopefully we can do our business next week and take care of it, its been a difficult season for us and I think we have a bit of grit which was missing earlier on. Ideally we would have liked to have made it safe today but we missed Stuart Noble a lot today, Stuart had made a massive difference to us since he came to us in January, we have been miles better and a lot of that was because Stuart is great at holding the ball up and we have been able to get midfield players coming and supporting him. Today we have asked Brian Carrigan to do that having been out for five or six weeks and Brian wasn’t up to it today, we didn’t pass the ball well enough to him and he had little retention of the ball but again it shows you where our problems lie, we didn’t score a goal today and goals win games, but we are aware of that.. Brown Ferguson was taken of because he had a sore knee and we have still two important games to go and we will need “Bomber” in these games and I felt it was the right thing to do to take him off, Greig Spence took a knock and he has ice on his ankle. We didn’t play well but you have to give great credit to Queen’s Park they played really well, but we defended well against them and the very fact we are where we are and they are where they are is a sign that the two of the sides have struggled to score goals this season and I think that was evident today. I am confident we will stay up, we both have very hard games next week and Ayr United and Raith Rovers could possibly win both matches next Saturday and beat the two of us, which in itself would keep us up but in saying that I know queen’s Park will be doing everything they can and we will certainly be doing our best to see that doesn’t happen.. I know whose position I would like to be in with only two games to go.
gardner speirs – queen’s park manager
We knew we had to come here and win today and I thought we were on top for the majority of the game but we didn’t create enough chances, but we are in this situation because we haven’t beaten the teams round about us in this division and that has been the case again in the last two games, in the last two games we have went into the games knowing we are the team which has to win these games. I thought our boys were excellent and I thought we passed the ball well, competed and defended well, so I can’t complain about the standard of performance and we will still keep going. We are obviously looking again to go and win next week and anything can happen, today I felt I was disappointed we didn’t get the result that our performance merited for long periods of the match we were the better side, but we were the side who had to win, it was probably difficult for Allan and Alloa today because they would never be sure to how to approach today’s game, a draw is a far better result for them.
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East Fife v Alloa Athletic
Alloa Athletic’s victory at Methil against East Fife gives the club a giant step towards avoiding the relegation play off’s this season. Coming off some poor recent results the performance at Bayview Stadium was at times a joy to watch, certainly in the first half when goals from Stuart Noble & Andy Scott gave the team a great lift and produced a spirited performance in which the Alloa players were first to every ball in which they were the driving force. Indeed credit must go to manager Allan Maitland who took bold decisions in the starting line up, giving full debuts to Gary Carroll and Marc McCafferty who both had excellent games, indeed it was Gary Carroll’s driving run and pass which set up Stuart Noble for the important opening goal in 20 minutes, ten minutes later Brown Ferguson was fouled in the box and Andy Scott despatched the resultant penalty kick for his eighth goal of the season. East Fife had started the game well, reacting well to the changes at the club, with caretaker manager Stevie Crawford sending out an attack minded side. Stuart Noble, who was playing his last game for “The Wasps” as his loan period from Airdrie United has now come to an end, was causing the East Fife defence all sorts of problems and was denied a second goal when Michael Brown brilliantly saved a second half shot which looked to be goal bound. This result now sets us up for next weeks game against Queen’s Park, knowing victory over Gardner Spiers side would keep Alloa Athletic out of the relegation Play off’s. There will be a huge amount of pressure next week, for both sides, Alloa need to take the positives from Methil and try and build on that for the Queen’s Park game.
allan maitland after east fife victory
Inevitably at this time of the season I think that the team that needs to win tends to do that and we have seen that in games recently. Today, we needed to win much more than East Fife did and that is no disrespect to anybody it is not a question of us playing better that them – we needed to win much more than them which meant that when the ball was there to be won we had a bit more energy and drive and I think that was the crucial factor, especially in the first half. We knew that with East Fife’s position, in the middle of the league and the change of manager would give them a boost for a start, so they would probably start the game well but with them being stuck in the middle of the division they had nothing to play for. When they went 2-0 down it was hardly going to be all out assault trying to get back into it – it was going to be game that was killed for them and I think we did that very well. It was a big game for debutants Gary Carroll and Marc McCafferty and I though the two of them were excellent. Brown Ferguson and John Grant gave us so much energy in the middle of the park, I think that was a crucial thing. Stuart Noble played his last game for us and he has done really well without scoring as many goals as we would have liked and I was pleased today that he left on a high rather than a low from last week, today he did well and scored a goal and having the front two players today scoring goals helps. Everything went for us today a shutout, no penalties against us which East Fife usually get – all in all it has been a very good day for us. Before this game we had big decisions to make for team selection today, with Dougie Wilson having fractured his ankle last week and Dougie Hill having pneumonia but the players who have come in have been fantastic.
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Raith Rovers v Alloa Athletic
Yesterday was another day which has been typical of Alloa Athletic’s season this term, going into the game Raith Rovers were huge favourites and in the past John McGlynn has been always maintained Alloa never open up at Starks Park. Yesterday was to be different, Alloa went and looked to take the game to the home side, giving themselves every chance of at least taking a point. In the opening minute Marvin Andrews, who could easily have been named man of the match, flattened Any Scott and this set the tone for the first half in which we had five bookings and one red card. Alloa nearly took the lead in bizarre fashion went Dougie Wilson’s shot bounced in front and over the home keeper, only for him to scoop it back off the line. There seemed no danger to the visitors when a long ball was played towards the front, left of the box, but keeper Jellema and defender both hesitated and Campbell then played a ball across the front of the box straight to Kevin Smith, a gift out of nothing. Twelve minutes later Raith Rovers were reduced to ten men when Stephen Simmons caught Dougie Wilson late and he was red carded, having already having received a previous booking for foul on Pat Scullion. Dougie Wilson had to spend the evening in hospital in Kirkcaldy, where it was discovered he had a double fracture to his ankle, which will keep him out for the rest of the season. Alloa battled back and in the second half Brown Ferguson scored with a free kick after Andy Scott had been fouled. At this stage in the game a confident side would have went on and collected all three points but Alloa’s inability this season to hold on to a game appeared again. Five minutes after Alloa had equalised Marvin Andrews crossed for Kevin Smith to score his second goal of the game. Although Alloa still had numerical advantage it was the home side who looked the more dangerous in front of goal and in the final minute Alloa were again caught on the break and Graham Weir sent a chip over the head of keeper Jellema who was caught in no mans land off his line. The scoreline was cruel on Alloa but again they had not been able to finish out a game in which they could easily have collected at least a point. Next week the team travel to Methil to face East Fife in another game which is now crucial the team pick up points.
allan maitland after raith game
Every Saturday at the moment we are finding new ways to lose games, we found a way at Brechin where we played a game for 90 minutes, when concentrations levels were good and out of the blue we threw away a goal and then today, for the first goal again, a long ball, a nothing ball, our defender can’t deal with it and decides not only that he can’t deal with it but he will probably make it a little bit easier for them by squaring it and allowing them to tap it into an empty net, so that puts all your plans out the window. We’ve got a plan in force, I know John McGlynn believes when we come to Starks Park we park a bus in front of the goal, but we didn’t do that today. We came here today with a middle four, ahead of Scot Buist to go and attack and try and squeeze the game and at the beginning of the game I thought that was working really well for us. I think to be fair to the referee there wasn’t much in the bookings he could do anything about, I don’t think he had much choice in the sending off – the players were making it difficult for the referee. When Raith Rovers went down to ten men we worked really hard, done the right things, stretched the game as much as possible, scored what I thought was a good goal, but a poor goal for Raith Rovers and then inexplicably allowed them to have encouragement and I have to give them credit I thought their work rate and in the way they played in the second half was fantastic with ten men but they didn’t need any encouragement, this is Raith Rovers who are fighting to win the league, but we gave them encouragement by giving them cheap corner kicks and then allowing them to cross balls into our box when they should have been shut down quicker. The third goal was just a kick up the park – we couldn’t deal with. We are where we are because we are incapable of dealing with defending properly for 90 minutes. We are very much aware of the fact that we are in a relegation struggle now and a relegation fight, I have been saying that for weeks and weeks despite how well we play at times we still manage to lose games – today was a game having got back to one each a point was the minimum we should have expected from the game, instead of kicking on and taking encouragement from the goal, what we did is we stood off Raith Rovers and allowed them to come to us. They deserved their win, I thought they were better than us despite going down to ten men and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
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Alloa Athletic v Peterhead
The Wasps managed to contrive to lose this game against a Peterhead side which should have been out of sight by half-time. Again we have been punished for mistakes, one in defence and the other when the winning goal should have been cancelled for a handball. However how many chances do we need to win a game and how costly were our misses in a match, with better finishing we should have won the game 6-2. We have had a habit of giving away goals and today was no exception, drawing the game would have been cruel but to lose the game really harsh. Even after staring defeat in the face, Alloa rallied in determined style but were repeatedly thwarted by a lack of belief in front of goal. We now have two very though away fixtures, against Raith Rovers and East Fife before a massive game at home against fellow relegation strugglers Queens Park. We are in this together and must be united, we have to pick up points and with better finishing we need to be positive and pick up vital league points.
allan maitland after peterhead defeat
If you look at our goals against tally it will tell you we are capable of losing goals, and at 1-0, the game is there to be won, we had played well in first half of the game I felt, we had created great chances, Andy Scott had a fantastic chance at the beginning which he has put over the bar, nothing unlucky about it, because you don’t hit the target, he has missed another one in the second half when he brought it down on his chest, then sliced it wide and then Stuart Noble has preceded to miss three, maybe four if you count the save, four great chances in front of goal, a header from two yards, a one and one with the goalie, he could have walked round the keeper because he was in his net and never hit the target with them, so we cannot win games by missing these chances. Then our frailty comes to the fore, the attacker is facing the wrong way so there is no danger to us, but we manage to let him turn and score, defensively that is not good enough and the second goal every body knows it is a handball to be fair and the referee should give it, even allowing for that we did not defend the corner properly, the guy had loads of space at the back post, but these things happen. For our point of view we are now third bottom of the league and today’s a classic reason as to why, we are third bottom of the league. We are playing a Peterhead side with so many injuries and suspensions that they are there to be got at, we are winning 1-0 with a magnificent goal, the game is there to be won, its just a question of going out and grasping it and we are incapable of doing that, that is where why we are, where we are. I made point in the programme notes the reason we are where we are is be because of lack of experience and no matter who you are, if your team proceed to miss four chances like the ones we missed today, and giveaway a goal and the referee doesn’t give a handball for their second goal, there is not a thing you can do about it, we have just got to keep our heads down, work hard and make sure we don’t finish in that second bottom place and change things at the end of the season. Today was typical our season I believe, a game which should have been won, not even drawn, a game which should have been won, again we have ended up with nothing!
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