Alloa Athletic 2 Accies 1: Saturday, 22 September 2001

Scottish League Division 2, Recreation Park, Alloa

Saturday, 22 September 2001

Accies lose their third game in a row and slip even further behind the teams at the top of the league.

TEAM NEWS

Manager Ally Dawson made three changes after the defeat by Stranraer on Tuesday. Sean Sweeney and Jim Sherry were injured, so Mark Nelson and Martin Bonnar took their places. Ally Graham was relegated to the bench so Paul McDonald played on the right side.

FIRST HALF

Accies played down the steep Recreation Park slope in the first half but found it very difficult to penetrate the well organised Alloa defence, with former Accies Steven Thomson immense in the middle.

The home team looked dangerous, but the opening goal after 19 minutes was just a bit jammy. A cross into the box ricocheted to Richard Walker and he swept the ball past the helpless Potter from about 10 yards out. Even worse was to follow 12 minutes later, when Alloa extended their lead with a superb goal. A neat passing move gave their right winger a chance to fire a deep cross into the penalty area. The man at the back post did a fine job of volleying it back into the danger are where it was headed high into the net by Ross Hamilton.

For once, manager Ally Dawson took immediate action to try to sort this out. To be honest, I though Allan Russell had done quite well up to this point, getting onto the end of a couple of crosses but not being able to test our Derek "Soapy" Soutar in the home goal. So it was a bit of a surprise when he was replaced by Johnny Walker ten minutes before half time. To his credit, however, Russell seemed to take the humiliation pretty well.

Immediately, the effort and work rate of the Accies players increased greatly and they really got stuck into the home team. Just a couple of minutes before the break, Accies grabbed a goal. Stuart Callaghan floated a high free-kick into the area, where Michael Moore got a glancing header on the ball and it went in off the post.

Callaghan himself and Johnny Walker fired shots narrowly wide, but the best chance before half time fell to Eddie Cunnington. Some good play ended with him about 12 yards from goal. His shot with the outside of his left boot curled beautifully round the last defender but hit the post and spun out to safety.

SECOND HALF

There was another change at half time, with Michael Martin replacing the ineffective Paul McDonald.

The second half was a bit of a damp squib in comparison with the first half. Accies had the majority of the ball and the Alloa midfield were happy to soak up the pressure and try to hit Accies on the break. Neither team was able to add to their goals tally, however, and the game ended in a 2-1 win for the home team.

Manager Ally Dawson made his final change near the end, with Kris O'Neil coming on for Gareth Armstrong.

CONCLUSION

Like the other games that have been lost recently, Accies were not terrible in this game. But there was something lacking in midfield and it's obvious that an experienced striker is needed NOW.

Graham Potter did well in goal, although I thought the central defensive pairing of Gaughan and Nelson had a hard job containing the lively Alloa front men.

The full backs did OK, with Steven Renicks doing a lot better than in recent games. Eddie Cunnington was very influential on the left, where he combined well with Stuart Callaghan, our most dangerous player. Paul McDonald had a very quiet first half and probably deserved to come off. I felt sorry for Allan Russell, although his first half substitution could be the kind of kick up the jacksie he needed.

Martin Bonnar tried hard as usual and Johnny Walker may have done enough to earn another chance in midweek. Michael Moore was a real handful for the home defence and scored a good goal just before half time. Gareth Armstrong doesn't look to be good enough.

It was interesting to watch the behaviour of the two managers during the game. Home boss Terry Christie was on the track all the time, ready to give his players words of encouragement when needed. In contrast, Ally Dawson only ventured to the edge of the pitch on one occasion. Even when there was a break in the play for a couple of minutes, he continued to lounge against a wall talking to his assistant rather than take the chance to coach some of his players. That's just not good enough.

Accies are now well out of the Championship race and the natives are getting restless.

It's time for change.

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