Alloa Athletic v Stenhousemuir FC

Match Report

MATCH REPORT

Alloa Athletic v Stenhousemuir at the Indodrill Stadium Alloa on 11.03.17

Ladbrokes SPFL League One              Att 508

Alloa Athletic 2 [Mackin 40, Spence 85 pen] Stenhousemuir 1 [Grant 61]

This result probably summed up the reason that both teams are where they are in the league this season. Stenhousemuir gave a decent performance and deserved at least a share of the points but ultimately ended up with none. Alloa on the other hand didn’t play to their best but came away with a victory.

The Warriors made one change to the Peterhead game with Colin McMenamin dropping to the bench and Stephen Stirling starting. This meant that Alan Cook was pushed into a more attacking role. Stenhousemuir started well and David Marsh headed over in the 11^th minute. Just after this they came even closer after Ciaran Summers played the ball down the line to Cook and he crossed to Mason Robertson who shot goal-ward from close range only to be denied by a fine stop by Neil Parry who managed to claw the ball away.

It wasn’t one way traffic though as this appeared to be a wake-up call for the home side and Kieran Millar had to make a vital block after going to ground to deny Jordan Kirkpatrick. This was followed in the 21^st minute by a powerful strike by Kevin Cawley from outside the box that David Crawford saw late but did well to stop.

Connor Duthie then created an opening at the other end with quick footwork but spoiled it by shooting well wide. Just before the half hour Robertson and Cook combined in a move that started just over the halfway line that ended with Robertson heading over. Although a miss it typified the work rate of the players.

It was Alloa though who took the lead in the 40^th minute. Dylan Mackin saw a shot blocked but he latched onto the rebound and twisted and turned to create an opening before dispatching the ball into the net. Just before the interval the visitors suffered another blow when Stephen Stirling had to leave the proceedings through injury.

Alloa started  the second half brightly and Frank McKeown headed a Calum Waters free-kick over the bar in the 50^th minute and the defender just failed to get onto the end of another excellent Waters delivery seven minutes later. In the 61^st minute though the Warriors drew level when Cook slid the ball through to Thomas Grant and the substitute dispatched the ball into the net for his first ever goal for Stenhousemuir.

Connor Duthie then came close to putting Stenhousemuir ahead when he fired a powerful effort past Parry but it shook the crossbar instead of going in. Greig Spence was denied by a point blank save by Crawford in the 82^nd minute. Three minutes later though he was to score the winner when a converted a penalty after Duthie was adjudged to have fouled Mackin in the box.

Stenhousemuir pushed again for the equaliser but the closest they came was a Grant effort that went wide and although they came back without a point there were encouraging signs throughout the game that hopefully they can carry forward to future games.

Alloa Athletic – Parry, Taggart, Waters, McKeown, Graham, Holmes, Cawley [Longworth 75], Flannigan [McCluskey 67], Spence [Hoggan 87], Kirkpatrick and Mackin. Subs not used – Marr, Martin, McDonald and McDowall.

Stenhousemuir – Crawford, Meechan, Summers, Marsh, Kerr, Berry, Duthie [Roy 85], Millar, Robertson [McMenamin 77], Stirling [Grant 45] and Cook. Subs not used – McCormack, Furtado, Manzana and Bowman.

Referee – David Lowe                        Assistants – Kylie McMullan and Richard Murray