The Wasps after starting today’s game in lively fashion and playing some good football, were to be denied by Stenhousemuir keeper Chris McCluskey, who pulled off some wonderful saves from long range efforts and free kicks. The game changed in 22 minutes when Craig Molloy gave Stenhousemuir the lead against the run of play, however in the next fifteen minutes bad defending and clinical finishing gave Stenhousemuir a 3-0 lead at the interval. In the second half Alloa again had more possesion but lacked players attacking the ball and were only rewarded by a goal which came off Iain Thomson and Scot Buist forced home the ball. Ex Alloa player Pat Scullion then caught Alloa on the break and he made the scoreline even more empahtic at 4-1. This was a disapponting result, but the team must stick together and work hard, before next weeks game at Gayfield, against Arbroath, who under new manager Jim Weir have gone unbeaten in their last two games, winning 2-1 against Peterhead at Balmoor Stadium today.

allan maitland after stenhousemuir game

I have got to say we have played Stenhousemuir twice and been well beaten in both games. I thought in the first twenty minutes we started the game really well – the goal keeper had two magnificent saves and the first time Stenhousemuir went up the park they scored, the second time they went up the park they scored and strangely enough the third time they went up the park they scored. We didn’t defend well enough in these situations – in the second half I thought Stenhousemuir did exactly what they should do got plenty of bodies behind the ball, made it really difficult for us and they scored their fourth goal on the break and they could have scored more in the second half. The best chances in the game fell to them but strangely I didn’t think we played that bad today – we defended poorly obviously, a lot of our football I thought wasn’t that bad and on a different day if we had went ahead and that might have changed the game and forced them to change their system. We got beaten 4-1 which is comprehensive – it’s a good away victory for Stenhousemuir so it won’t get much better for them than that – we can have no complaints with anything.

john coughlin – stenny manager

I am absolutely delighted because we have had a dodgy run – we thought when we had beaten Arbroath at Gayfield a couple of weeks ago that we had got over that particular hurdle and started scoring goals again and then we took a real set back last Saturday and it’s all credit to the players as they got themselves up for it today and it was a great result and a good performance. In the second half they looked as if they were sitting in a bit and that’s exactly what we were doing – we made sure that at 3-0 up we weren’t going to lose the game and we thought we would get chances on the break in the game and that’s how it turned out. On the day the difference was we took our chances, that’s been the biggest single factor for us – we haven’t been scoring goals but today we did and got our rewards. Chris McCluskey kept us in the game before we took the lead and made a couple of great saves from free kicks especially – he has been a good signing for us there is no doubt about that. We feel that we haven’t been playing that badly and the difference is scoring goals and today we managed to get the goals.

Alloa manager Allan Maitland was relieved to get back to winning ways after a period when the club had not won a game since the 12th September against Stirling Albion, however against Clyde, especially in the first half the team was excellent and produced some of their best football for a while. Ex Clyde player Brian Carrigan was again on target against his old side putting Alloa ahead after 14 minutes and was again unfortunate when he stuck a 25 yard free kick against the crossbar. In a first half which Alloa dominated the only thing that was missing was more goals, Brown Ferguson headed against a post and Andy Scott had a goal chalked off. In the second half the tempo dropped and Clyde gradually came into the game, Alloa were playing a little deeper and with not scoring that second goal, Clyde were still in the game, however to be honest David Crawford had an easy day in the Alloa goal. The second and dessisive goal game only three minutes from the end when Brown Ferguson’s initial header came back of the crossbar and Stuart Noble headed the rebound into the net. This put a fairer look to the scoreline and will give the side confidence going into next Saturday’s local derby against Stirling Albion, indeed a victory over Allan Moore’s side would leave the Wasps only three points from the top of the division.

allan maitland after clyde victory

I am obviously relieved first and foremost to win the game, before the game I was saying to the players that we are almost back to the same team that started the season, with Brian Carrigan and Stuart Noble up the park and the back four and goal keeper the same along with the two centre midfield players. I thought defensively we looked a lot more solid which is the foundation of anything but in the first half I thought we played really, really well and should have went in at half time more than one nothing up, had plenty of chances, their goalkeeper played well, we hit the post, Brian Carrigan hit the cross bar, obviously I don’t think our goal keeper, David Crawford, had a save to make. In the second half I have got to say Clyde pressed the game very well and because we haven’t won for six weeks we started sitting in too deep and encouraged them to come, they had corner kicks and free kicks, which I though were defended reasonably well I have to say, but on a day like that anything can happen and a shot out of nothing could just take a deflection but again our goal keeper never had a save to make and I though we had enough good balls going into the box to score the second goal. Brown Ferguson had a great chance when he shot and he probably should have squared it but he was telling me he was that tired by the time he got there he couldn’t do anything else. Obviously, the second goal, albeit very late gave the game in my impression a better reflection and fairer reflection despite the pressure we were under in the second half I felt the 2-0 was a fair reflection on the game. The biggest difference this week was having strikers to score the goals. Brian Carrigan, who I thought was excellent and Stuart Noble who again I thought was excellent, were in there and it was these players that scored the goals. For six weeks we have hardly scored a goal and our strikers have struggled in that period but today I thought the two of them were a threat. Alan Lithgow played well for Clyde but even despite that we managed to get good chances and the front two played really well. I think there was a spell in the second half when Clyde were putting us under a lot of pressure but they had no end product but we needed that second goal which made a world of difference and everybody can relax and start enjoying their football again. It was a very much needed win because six games in this league is a long time without a win but I felt in the last few weeks, especially against Brechin , we had done well enough to take more than the points we have collected from the games. We are obviously very pleased and delighted to have won today. We are all criticising referees and today I thought the referee tried to let the game flow as much as he possibly could, restricted yellow cards and I thought he was excellent, so it’s only fair if we are going to knock them we give them praise when it’s due.

Dumbarton took revenge for our opening day victory at the Strathclyde Homes Stadium back on 8th August, 2009, when “The Wasps” won 3-1, however Dumbarton deservedly won the opening game of the second quarter by the same scoreline. Situations can change very quickly in football and having started the season very possitively and going top of the league, injuries and suspensions hindered the club’s progress. However having not won any of our last five league games we need a possitive reaction from the players, errors can cost you dearly and The Wasps didn’t start yesterday’s game well, Dumbarton were more competitive and winning most of the possession. However having gone behind we got back into the game and Mark Gilhaney scored his first goal for the club four minutes before half time. Then a minute before half time we fell behind again losing a poor defensive goal. The players at present are letting themselves down, they are a lot better than recent results have shown. We need to raise our game and bounce back as soon as possible, starting next Saturday against Peterhead. Peterhead themselves proved it can be done, losing 5-0 against Cowdenbeath, before bouncing back with victories over Brechin City and Clyde. There are sure to be changes for next Saturday, but it is vital the players and supporters respond positively.

allan maitland after dumbarton defeat

We did so well last week against Brechin City we kept the team the same today and that was obviously a mistake, Dumbarton were better than us today from start to finish, they were sharper. At the opening goal it looked as though David Crawford had done well enough to prevent the goal, but none of our midfield players attacked the loose ball and Andy Geggan managed to scored from about 25 yards quite simply, so 1-0 down and by the way we played them on side because we played a ridiculously high line for their first goal. The second goal they don’t stop the ball going into the box and let it happen too easily, we didn’t defend the cross that doesn’t help, the third goal I thought was a bit unfortunate, I think it came off Scott Chaplain after our goalie had saved it. Regardless of that we didn’t do enough to win the game, they passed the ball better than us and having not won in our previous four games we looked like a team that doesn’t have the confidence to deal with that, so when we lost a goal I didn’t hear anyone organising round about and all the things that happened automatically in the first five or six weeks of the season are no longer happening, so I know where we are – we just need to get back to basics and that means we need to work harder in the games to try and get us back to where we should be. I think Dumbarton deserved their victory, obviously we are very disappointed and we need to do better. We have a lot of players at the moment playing well below par and we need to sort that out. I am glad to say that I’ve now got options and the guys on the bench will get their opportunities shortly. The players that I had faith in last week didn’t produce so we’ll make changes next week.

This was a game which in fairness the weather, especially the gale force wind was to spoil, but Alloa Athletic can be better pleased with this performance as we battle to get more of our players back from injury. Alloa had opportunitIes in the game to take the lead and on another day, could easily had a penalty given and in the second half found themselves even more unfortunate not to go ahead after Scott Walker looked to have scored his first goal since rejoining the club. The game is all about opinions and people will see things differently, no one could fault the players efforts and in Mark Gilhaney, Alloa had the most influential player on the park. Next week John Grant will return from suspension and hopefully we might get more positive news on the injury front, however Gary Carroll will miss the Brechin City match due to suspension.

WARDY AFTER GOALLESS EAST FIFE GAME

We were reasonably happy with the performance, after the last two games when we have struggled to get a result or any type of quality on the park it was more important for us to get going in the right direction again, especially with the number of players still out injured, that’s why we are happy that the performance was better but the result was not as we wanted, we were looking for a victory. However a point after two defeats is a start and we will look to kick on from there, we are hoping to get another couple of players involved again next week but it will still be longer before we will be able to have our strongest side available. Not scoring in our last three games has not helped, it is strange because we had looked at this from last season and we realised we had to get stronger and we believe we have now, five of the best strikers in the league when they are all fit, we recently signed Iain Russell however he had not played regular football for three or four months and he then pulls a muscle in his thigh in the first week which causes us a problem, Stuart Noble, Brian Carrigan and Dougie Wilson have all been missing at some time, and of course it is hard to replace Greig Spence. So we are still looking for the correct partnership this season, but it will come. There have been eight games played this season and we are a lot harder to beat this year, in the last two years we have conceded too many goals and we have now perfected that better so we are always in the games which gives us a chance. Today Mark Gilhaney showed us what he can do and flashes of how good he can be, we were pleased by that and hopefully we can build on this point.

The Wasps suffered their first home defeat this season in the league, going down 1-0 to Arbroath, the second 1-0 defeat in a row for Allan Maitland’s team. A penalty awarded after 28 minutes when John Grant handled a net bound Ian Dobbins shot, which resulted in a red card for the Alloa midfield player and an opportunity, which Bryan Scott took to open the scoring in this match. On a day when Alloa had already had their options depleted due to injury it was then an up hill task. Although Alloa did well in the second period Arbroath were content to hit on the break and had opportunities themselves to increase their lead, however with time added on young 16 year old substitute Jason Thomson was unfortunate not to snatch a point for the club when he struck the cross bar. On the day too many injuries were to cost the team dear, we need all players available and not out injured, to keep our momenteum going and to avoid inconsisent results.

allan maitland after arbroath defeat

We were obviously disappointed to lose the game, but I thought our effort from our players with ten men was excellent, we had to keep our shape and play percentage football and hopefully at some stage in the game you would get that opportunity, unfortunately for us that opportunity came in the 91st minute of the game and we hit the bar with it. The disappointing thing was how we started the game, before Arbroath went ahead with the penalty kick, they had three good opportunities before the penalty, we changed it to go three up front and looked to be getting a grip of the game just before they were awarded the penalty kick, we didn’t defend the goal well and I think John Grant was a little unlucky to be sent off but the referee has no choice, it was a handball on the line, then once we were down to ten men with so many other players also missing, then the game becomes really difficult and I think that is exactly what happened today.

It was asking an awful lot of a team to dig in a game when – Iain Russell, Kevin Welsh, Brian Carrigan, David McClune and Dougie Wilson all out of the team, we need these players fit, so we will need to dig in for the next couple of weeks, get all these guys back, give us options and go and play from there, disappointed with the result but no qualms about effort , the effort was great but we just lacked that wee bit of quality which was sitting in the stand today.