It was advantage to Alloa Athletic yesterday as they snatched all 3 points with a late goal to leapfrog the Lichties into 3rd place in Ladbrokes League One with a one point advantage.

Arbroath were dealt a double blow before kick off with both Bobby Linn and Thomas O’Brien ruled out. This meant a recall for Scott Martin, David Gold and Leighton McIntosh with Arbroath reverting to a 4-4-2 formation with Ricky Little and Colin Hamilton in the centre of defence with Blair Yule playing at right back and David Gold starting at left back. The midfield was made up of Michael McKenna, Mark Whatley, Scott Martin and Gavin Swankie with Leighton McIntosh partnering Ryan Wallace up front.

With both teams the best of the rest behind Ayr United and Raith Rovers there was still plenty to play for with neither team yet having guaranteed their promotion play off spot.

Ross Stewart and Jordan Kirkpatrick, both of St Mirren have been a danger pairing since joining Alloa on loan and they were supported by the experienced pairing of Iain Flannigan and Steven Hetherington. Jim Goodwin has built a talented squad including 6 loan players, of which 5 started the match.

The first goal did indeed come for Arbroath. A corner kick was swung in and Colin Hamilton won the ball but his shot didn’t have the power but it fell kindly to Michael McKenna who pounced to push the ball into the corner of the net.

Alloa had shown signs of wanting to play the ball out from the back but with McIntosh, Wallace and McKenna all chasing the ball there had been previous warnings that they may get caught, and that was exactly what happened for Arbroath’s second goal just 60 seconds later.

As Alloa restated the game the ball was played back but the Arbroath strikers went on the chase and were soon rewarded as Arbroath stole possession and a long ball over the top by Scott Martin was latched on to by Ryan Wallace who hit a lot shot beyond Neil Parry for a remarkable second goal.

Alloa were never out of it and equalised at a crucial stage. A ball whipped in by Scott Taggart was met by Callum Smith and the on-loan Dunfermline striker flicked an angled header which looped high and under the bar leaving Hutton no chance.

The game was going back and forth and both teams had chances with free kicks just outside of the 18 yard box. The quality of officiating could again be questioned with some very dubious decisions.

Alloa equalised in the 41st minute. Again it was St Mirren loanee Ross Stewart’s height which created an issue with the ball not being cleared and falling to his St Mirren team mate Jordan Kirkpatrick, who had time to shoot from 12 yards.

Half Time – Alloa Athletic 2 – 2 Arbroath

The second half didn’t quite have the same drama as the first half but Arbroath seemed in control with Leighton McIntosh in particular using his strength and power to give the Alloa defence a hard time.

Gavin Swankie was booked for a foul on Hetherington in the 50th minute and a few minutes later was replaced by Danny Denholm.

Celtic’s Paul J Crossan replaced Flannigan in the 65th minute as both side tried to find another goal. Ross Stewart again came close for Alloa before Leighton McIntosh was unfortunate as he controlled the ball before turning and shooting at goal only for Parry to save.

Mark Whatley had a goal ruled out for offside which again seemed a very close call by the linesman.

With only 13 minutes remaining and against the run of play Alloa scored a fortunate goal which turned out to be the winning goal. Substitute Kevin Cawley seemed to use his arm to control the ball before Jordan Kirkpatrick struck his knock down. The ball took a deflection of an Arbroath defender and looped high in the air and over the head of Hutton and into the net.

Kane Hester came on for Wallace and had a bursting run into the box as he controlled the ball past two defenders but was foiled just as he was about to shoot. With the game heading into injury time Josh Skelly also was introduced for McKenna but Alloa did well to hold up the ball near the Arbroath corner flag and held on for the 3 points.

A disappointing result for the Lichties who despite being on top didn’t test Parry enough in the Alloa goal.

With 4 games remaining 3rd place is certainly not lost yet, and we go again as we face Raith Rovers at home next Saturday for our 2nd last home game of the season.

Hope to see you there!

C’mon the Lichties.