Match Report

Alloa Athletic v Stenhousemuir at Indodrill Stadium Alloa on 5.4.16

Stirlingshire Cup Semi-Final                Att 98

Alloa Athletic 2 [Layne 24, McDonald 84] Stenhousemuir 0

Both teams took the opportunity to introduce young players to a competitive first team environment for the first time. Alloa saw Crumish, Martin, McNeill, Greene and McDonald their debuts. Stenhousemuir had Runciman, McMaster, Hamilton, Allan, Nash, McKenzie, Halleran and Sinclair all make theirs as well as having two players on trial namely Gordon Young and Declan Winters.

The Warriors did have Jim Paterson returning after a lengthy absence as he tried to get fit for the league encounter against Airdrie with Ciaran Summers being suspended.

Alloa had been relegated to League One on the Saturday prior to this match with their home record being a factor having failed to win at the Indodrill Stadium all season apart from the first round Stirlingshire Cup tie against Stirling Albion but they were to win this game fairly comfortably.

The game was an open one at the start and Marenghi forced Crawford into a save in the early stages whilst at the other end there were a couple of half chances. The closest that the home side came though was in the 17^th minute when Adam Martin was allowed to run and shoot but his effort was saved by Barclay. It wasn’t long though before the Wasps took the lead when Eddie Ferns held off his marker before picking out Isaac Layne in the middle to fire home. This was his second goal against the Warriors this season as he had scored for Brechin during a loan period earlier in the season.

Stenhousemuir suffered a blow just after the half hour when Gordon Young had to go off with a nasty looking knee injury after a collision when making a tackle that seemed innocuous but his pain was obvious to all.  In the 36^th minute the home side had another chance when Caddis was allowed to run unhindered and only a Barclay stop kept the score down.

The second half was a bit of a non-event for Stenhousemuir who struggled to get going at all and Alloa in the main seemed quite content with the score. The introduction of 15 year olds Greene and McDonald injected some interest in the game and McDonald showed his potential with a powerful strike that Barclay did well to beat out in the 72^nd minute. The youngster though did get on the score sheet in the 84^th minute heading home a Hetherington cross. This goal took him into the record books as Alloa’s youngest scorer ever in a first team game. There was still time for Ferns to strike the post and the same player tested Barclay in the last minute as the holders, Stenhousemuir, went out of the competition at the first time of asking,

Alloa – David Crawford, Ryan Finnie, Steven Hetherington, Jack Crumlish, Kyle McAusland, Connor McManus, Eddie Ferns, Liam Caddis [Declan McDonald 72] , Isaac Layne [Mark Greene 78], Aron Lynas [Aiden McNeill 85] and Adam Martin. Sub not used – Ben McAllister.

Stenhousemuir – Jamie Barclay, Calum Runciman, Liam McMaster, Grant Hamilton, James Paterson [Declan Winters 80], Liam McCroary, Mark Allan [Robbie Sinclair 87], Gordon Young [t][Thomas Halleran 31], Paul Nash, Anthony Marenghi and Connor McKenzie. Subs not used – Joshua Gracie and Sean Robertson.

Referee – David Lowe             Assistants – Jordan Stokoe and Simon MacLean