Season: 2021-22

Alloa Athletic v Queen’s Park

Alloa reverted to the tried and tested 4-2-3-1 with Mendy and King dropping out of the starting XI to make way for the stalwarts of Robertson and Cawley.

It was the home side who created the tantalising chances in the early minutes, Boyd would rue an early opening shot as he chested down Robertson’s cross, and unmarked could only smash it at Muir in the centre of the Queen’s Park goal. Mouhamed ‘Sena’ Niang also had a driven effort fly wide. Sammon charging through was almost brutally smashed by an errant knee, Wullie Muir lucky to escape with just a yellow after a nasty challenge on the Irishman and Kevin Cawley would meet another Robertson cross with a header straight at the Spider’s keeper.

The major deciding factor of the first half was the quickfire double yellow of Craig Howie, after being second to a 50/50 and inflicting a fair amount of pain on him and his opposite number he was shown a yellow and 16 minutes later would receive a second yellow after a naive sliding challenge missed ball and caught man. It was a galling decision from an Alloa viewpoint especially as Queen’s Park skipper and former Alloa legend Michael Doyle had escaped a similar mistimed tackle on Sammon minutes earlier.

But as the first half wore on Queen’s were held to only long range efforts on Hutton’s goal.

The second half saw Alloa soaking up the pressure in what can accurately be described as two banks, a 4-5 formation, with the introduction of King for Cawley. But again somehow the hosts were the ones challenging on goal as Sammon curled on his weak foot into the arms of Muir and Boyd couldn’t quite run himself into a shooting position as Muir was again forced to come collect the ball at the Alloa forward’s feet.

But just as the Queen’s Park lack of imagination was showing, Doyle whipped in a ball to the 6 yard box, Hutton gets caught in no man’s land, and neither Robertson or Graham can stop Simon Murray nodding in for the opener from the visitors.

Credit to the Barry Ferguson who immediately saw the need to open things up again, O’Donnell and Mendy coming on for Taggart and Sammon, and the system changed to a much brighter 3-1-4-1. The Wasps kept finding openings and Queen’s Park were forced to bite at the heels of Boyd and Scougall which only stirred the hornet’s nest at the Indodrill as the 10 men began to make it a stretched end to end tie.

With Sena being brought down a hairs-breadth outwith the box, up stepped Boyd to deliver a free-kick off the bar twice and over the line but the equaliser hadn’t put paid to the breathless end to the game. Queen’s Park managed to smack the bar after Murray’s effort was barely deflected off course and Boyd was blocked smartly up the other end after another dazzling solo run. Both title hopefuls left with a hard-fought point.

Barry Ferguson, Alloa Athletic Manager

“I was happy enough, we created a few chances with 11 men, then obviously when we go down to 10 men we need to play a certain way which is not ideal, we’ve got to sit behind the ball and try to frustrate and, hopefully, we get that odd chance from a set piece and that’s what we spoke about and, thankfully, we got it.

“One thing the boys showed today was character, that’s the most important thing.”

“I’m happy with the result after going down to 10 men. Queen’s Park move the ball pretty well, they never really cut us open, it was from our mistake that they got the goal. It was good character, good resilience from us”

“I watched Alloa a number of times before I took the job and that’s one thing I noticed they were always decent enough and getting beat. Today we showed a bit of siege mentality. We’ve got good quality, we just need to gel it all together. It’s not going to happen overnight but i know what football’s like, you’ve got to start winning as quickly as possible. You don’t want to be a number of points behind teams going into November-December”
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Clyde v Alloa Athletic

It’s a bitter defeat as Alloa come back from Broadwood with nought.

The first half was a fairly benign affair with neither side testing the opposing goalkeeper seriously, but Alloa showed the most signs of life with a few dangerous attacks broken up at crucial moments.

In the second half Alloa had switched from their unorthodox 3-4-3 and slotted into a more familiar 4-2-3-1 after Boyd was heavily muted in his wing back role in the first half. But it would be Clyde who made the opening breakthrough. A long ball to Goodwillie was met clumsily by Mendy, Alloa were slow to pressure the knockdown so Clyde switched play from left to right to Cunningham. His delivery saw Goodwillie finally win the running battle between him and Mendy, rising highest to drive a header past the flailing Hutton.

Alloa would respond to this set-back as Robertson, O’Donnell and Armour replaced Mendy, King and Boyd. New signing from Partick Thistle Mo ‘Sena’ Niang zipped a ball into Sammon. The frontman layed off neatly for Scougall and on his left foot, he smashed the ball low toward goal. Mitchell’s hands were not enough to divert the effort and it crashed off the post and in to drag the Wasps back into the game.

From there the game was almost a procession toward the Clyde goal but Alloa would time and time again fail to find the killer touch and the winning goal.

In the 89th minute, after absorbing a load of Alloa pressure, Goodwillie struck against an isolated Andy Graham, rolling the ball up the byline and smashing the roof of the net as he charged toward the 6 yard box. A special goal to give Clyde their first win in the league this season but bitter for the Wasps who only had themselves to blame.

Barry Ferguson, Alloa Manager

First half, we never played well at all. Second half, again, we started really poorly.

Had to change the formation, make a number of changes and then we get the goal and we’re on the front foot. Then, if you’re not going to win the game, you’ve got to see the game out. To lose a goal in the last couple of minutes is not good enough.

If you’re not going to be consistently performing you’re not going to be in the team

It’s a worry, with a similar team. You’ve seen the performance [against East Fife], how they played. Then to go from that level back down; it was basically the same sort of performance as Peterhead. It’s a concern, I need to sort that as quickly as possible and I will sort that as quickly as possible. If you’re not going to be consistently performing you’re not going to be in the team, that’s the most important thing.

As I said, you can’t go from being so dominant last week to not laying a finger on Clyde until we make the formation change. There’s no excuses about the formation, last week it worked really well. We worked on it again and then obviously have to go and change it by bringing a central midfielder on to left back [and] a young player out wide.

I’m not going to beat about the bush, it’s not good enough
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Alloa Athletic v East Fife

Alloa gave two debuts today as Mark Durnan made his first start and we saw an interesting 3-4-3 formation take shape for the outing against East Fife. With the elite SBS (Scougall, Boyd and Sammon) leading the line Alloa looked to carve the early opportunities. The pressure told after 29 minutes when Scougall slipped past Higgins, charged into the East Fife box and laid on an outside of the boot through ball for Boyd to hit home at the back post. David Hutton made a magnificent to deny Danny Denholm, a player who seems cursed to defeat at the Indodrill, as the veteran athletically launched a strong arm to beat the ball away from the equaliser.

In the second half East Fife reclaimed parity with a sublime Jamie Semple pile driver. Hutton beaten at full stretch as the ball rocketed past him from 25 yards. With the confidence of the wondergoal firmly in mind, East Fife pushed for a second but it was the Wasps who would bite back. Daniel Church providing a precision cross to pick out Conor Sammon. The Irishman poked home at the front post to restore the Alloa lead. Just a minute after the restart East Fife were punished as Sammon, Boyd and Scougall executed a swift counterattack and raced through with the former Hamilton man firing past Gallacher to give himself a chance at a hat trick.

Alloa managed the game out as East Fife struggled to triage a wounded front line. Alloa’s league campaign getting back on track as they jumped to 6th in League 1.

We dominated the game

Barry Ferguson : “In the first half, I think we dominated the game, no doubt about that. We were a wee bit wobbly, they scored the goal, felt a bit sorry for ourselves but I was waiting on a reaction and I got that. Once we got the second goal, I always thought we were going to be in control. When we got the third goal we just saw out the game.”

“That’s what I want. The only thing I can be disappointed in is the first 15 minutes of the second half but I got a reaction with good nights on Tuesday and Thursday and obviously a good result against East Fife, who got a great result against Queen’s Park last week.”

We’ll get there through hard work

“[Scoring’s] been a problem for Alloa over the years and that’s one thing we need to do. We’re solid enough defensively but we need to create more opportunities. Today, we were good and we’ve got three goals. That’s something we work hard on but something that won’t happen overnight because it’s a new group but we’ll get there through hard work.”

“The market is slow in terms of loans but just now we need to work with what we’ve got but hopefully we can have one or two back in contention after Tuesday night.”

He’s phenomenal

“Scougs was in a different position today, He’s got fantastic ability but one thing I love about him is his work rate. He’s phenomenal. If you look at him he’s about 8 stone wet but he gives me everything. I need to get a position where I can build my team around a player like him. He’s a matchwinner when he plays like that.”
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Peterhead v Alloa Athletic

It was again a sparse bench as Alloa opened the cinch League 1 campaign against Peterhead at Balmoor Stadium. Taggart, Robertson, Durnan, Cawley and Armour all missing for the trip to the northeast and Fernandy Mendy, Alan Trouten and Mark Lamont having a very limited pre-season. It’s very much a work in progress team as Alloa set up with Fernandy Mendy at CB for his Alloa debut.

But after 8 minutes it was Peterhead who showed they were the sharper team. Andy Graham isolated in a 1v1 with Niah Payne, the forward blasted past the captain to the byline and curled a cross in between Mendy and Howie to give the hosts the opener. A former Wasps’ youngster, Russell McLean’s second spell getting off to a flyer at Peterhead. It was to get little better as Peterhead created the best opportunities of the half. Hutton called into action for a few routine stops while at the other end Brett Long was still to be tested. Boyd and Sammon had the pick of the efforts but both saw their attempts fizz off target.

The second half saw the introduction of the youngsters O’Donnell and Webster and the two spearheaded what looked to be a refocused and driven Alloa response. But that was firmly deflated in the 63rd minute when Russell McLean would find himself in behind the Alloa defense and this time turn provider to Niah Payne who inside the 6 yard box directed the cross past Hutton to give Peterhead a commanding lead. Despite the increasingly urgent, and often wasteful, Alloa, Brett Long wouldn’t be called into any real action as the game petered out to the delight of the home fans.

It’s an opening day blow to Alloa’s promotion expectations and one that didn’t escape the criticism of the boss, Barry Ferguson:

“I’m really disappointed, we’re missing experienced players who would be in contention to be in the starting XI but I’m not going to use that as an excuse. It’s not good enough. I know that, I’m very honest, hence the reason I’m a bit later out the dressing room.”

“We had a long chat and we need to go seriously work on things. It’s a fact that Tuesday and Thursday we need to get a reaction for the game on Saturday.”

There’s a lot of things we need to do

“Peterhead were the better team, first to every ball, [and to] every second ball. Which really disappoints me… there’s a lot of things we need to do… not just the players but myself and the coaching staff too.”

“It’s not been ideal with players missing from [COVID-19 isolation] and injuries but I’m not going to use that as an excuse. We still had 14 or 15 players, obviously with a couple young ones. Hopefully we’ll see the players coming back soon. We lost a couple on Thursday night at training aswell.”

Next week we will get a reaction because that’s not good enough today

“We’ve worked hard in training but today’s not the way that I want my team to play; It’s not the type of performance that we want to see. Next week we will get a reaction because that’s not good enough today.”

“Parry is still part of the squad. I’ll change the goalkeepers again next week. It’s difficult to make these decisions but I didn’t want anyone extra traveling. I wanted Hutt’s in, it’s an area of the pitch I want competition for places. He’s still part of it and a big part of the squad and I want him to fight for his place. In the coming weeks he could be back in.”
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Raith Rovers v Alloa Athletic

It was a bit of a dead rubber for Alloa with qualification already denied after defeats to Cowdenbeath and Brechin. Raith though needed a win to guarantee not nervously looking toward the score of the Livingston vs Cowdenbeath tie at the end of the day.

Jamie Macdonald almost made a hash of the first Alloa opportunity as he nearly fumbled a Taggart freekick into the path of the on-rushing Conor Sammon, but gathered at the second attempt.

But it was the home side carved out most of the chances but the new signing, David Hutton and his capable two in front of Andy Graham and Craig Howie put life and limb in the way of every Raith opportunity.

In the second half Alloa had an incisive opening but Steven Boyd cutting in on his left foot could only roll it past the post. Sammon was also denied as he broke into the box, his opening effort blocked, the second was a venomous shot at Macdonald’s front post. It received a strong set of hands to parry wide.

Raith substitute Varian would flick over inside the six yard box. The Raith missed opportunities were very reminiscent of the final day in 2017-18 when the Kirkaldy side were held to the loss of league title and promotion to the Championship.

But the game fizzled out to penalties. Sammon’s opening penalty was saved in an otherwise flawless shootout. Taggart, Scougall, Graham and King netting for Alloa. While Benedictus, Keatings, Spencer and Varian fired past Hutton, before Vaughan, the man who hit the post in the final minutes back in 2017-18, stepped up to secure the bonus point win and Raith’s qualification as group winners. They were joined by Livingston after a 3-1 win over Cowdenbeath saw them through as one of the three best runner’s up.
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Brechin City v Alloa Athletic

It was a toothless performance in front of goal as Alloa passed up a heap of chances against last year’s club 42. Albeit Alloa were struggling with the absence of Durnan, Cawley, Trouten and Lamont but it did leave the opportunity for youngsters Ben Ramage and Devan McColl to join the first team squad.

Alloa’s first half was methodical with a steady stream of chances opening up. Taggart drilled an effort off the top of the bar. Boyd screwed an effort wide and probably most egregious, Ben Armour passed up the best opportunity by heading over from 6 yards.

In the second half, the almost inevitable sucker punch was struck by Brechin local Marc Scott. He broke from midfield onto a flick on and Robertson couldn’t do anything to stop him charging into the box and rifling an exquisite effort into the top corner beyond the helpless McDowall.

Boyd attempted to lead the counter charge but again Brechin crowded him out. O’Donnell saw the best opportunity fall to him from 8 yards but could only direct it into Wills’ grateful arms. Connor Sammon again found himself in great areas but late on couldn’t find the finish to rescue Alloa from group D mediocrity. Dev McColl would make his debut, but sadly couldn’t make an impact on the already slipping away tie.
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Alloa Athletic v Livingston

Alloa burst back into Group D contention with a win over the Premiership favourites Livingston.

It’s only been 4 years since both were competing for the League 1 title and you’d be hard pressed to notice the seeming difference in quality that’s seen Livingston’s meteoric rise in Scottish football. Three massive chances fell to Conor Sammon but Alloa’s lone frontman failed to convert. The first was a pinpoint cross into the six yard box from O’Donnell who made the space with an exquisite trick (⬇️➡️ On the analogue stick if you’re a Fifa connoisseur) but Sammon could only head the ball up and over.
The second meanwhile was no skill, just a speculative lob by Howie, that was bizarrely left by both Livi central defenders, the Irishman again failed to execute as he produced a tame effort for Stryjek to catch. In the 36th minute the frontman would beat the keeper. Once again Howie’s lofted through ball finding Sammon running in behind, and with no Livingston defenders in sight, Sammon squeezed the ball under Stryjek only for the ball to strike the post and bounce back into the grateful arms of the goallie. Andy Graham was almost an unlikely scorer too as he looped a Scott Taggart delivery off the bar after beating Stryjek with a jumping header. The ricochet came too quick for Robertson lurking at the back post.

With the second half it looked like more of the same from Alloa. The left back, Dan Church almost delivering the opener, with an in-swinging cross on his weaker foot, just missing the net by a yard. Scougall drilled a shot along the floor too to test the Livingston keeper as the West Lothian side again made simple errors. But Livi sucker punched Alloa with a Bruce Anderson finish. Ben Williamson played the ball wide to Longridge who drilled a cross along the six yard box. The former Aberdeen forward smashed home at the near post.

What followed was a pretty demoralising 15 minutes as Livingston coyly stroked the ball around the back comfortable in the fact that Alloa would need to press them higher and expose themselves to the long diagonal that Alloa had dealt with so comfortably all game. Honourable mentions go to Boyd and Armour who initiated some deep pressing and exposed more of Livingston’s brittle possession football. With 9 minutes of normal time though it was Alloa escaping the Livingston press from defence – Graham launching the ball wide to marauding right back Scott Taggart – he would cut inside and accept Livingston’s invitations to keep going and going until he was almost in the six yard box. With the calls of ‘shoot’ from the commentators and fans, Taggart duly obliged and fired into the bottom corner past Stryjek. With the tide turned and Alloa would win a penalty from the clumsy Ayo Obileye clip of O’Donnell’s heel. Step up Alan Trouten and you know the rest.

It puts potential qualification back in Alloa’s own hands albeit they’ll need to find the net a few times in the upcoming away fixtures at Brechin and Kirkcaldy.

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Alloa Athletic v Cowdenbeath

The Premier Sport Cup campaign kicked off to a damp start as Alloa succumbed to a Liam Buchanan goal. The Cowdenbeath striker lobbed home past Neil Parry after a poor mistake by the goalkeeper.

Alloa will feel hard done by as they thought they had equalised in the final minutes with Adam King drilling the ball into the bottom corner but an errant, air swing at the ball by offside Conor Sammon, was deemed to interfere with play and it was chopped off. Alloa had bright moments regularly throughout the first half and especially in the closing minutes but lacked the cutting edge to punish the Fife side. Boyd, Cawley, Robertson and Sammon all missing or being denied in crucial moments.

Great to see fans back in the stadium but frustrating not to secure anything from our season opener.
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