Alloa 41-21 Glenrothes: Clacks side edge out old rivals

Glenrothes.............21

ALLOA had to dig deep against old rivals Glenrothes but a strong final twenty minutes kept their perfect start to the season intact.

The game started badly for the home side when Glenrothes hacked through after an Alloa handling error and won the race for the touchdown.

Rab Truesdale levelled things up with a clever sneak round the blindside however Glens restored their advantage with an ominous break from their back division that shredded the home defence.

Alloa had their fair share of possession and territory in the first half however their set-piece was far from stable and they had a minor disruption when Daniel McGookin was yellow carded.

Therefore Cammy Nimmo's try on the stroke of half time was extremely welcome.

Lee Cairney's second conversion put the sides level at 14-14 at the break.

Cammy Nimmo struck early in the second half with his second try taking his side ahead for the first time in the match.

VICTORY: Alloa ran out winners against Glenrothes. Pictures by Gordon Murray

There followed a crucial phase a play which defined where the points were heading. Glenrothes were camped on the Alloa line and seemed certain to score either a pushover or penalty try but Alloa held firm and won a relieving penalty.

The pendulum had swung, Alloa had introduced the experience of Dale Foster and Michael Doig, Glenrothes had had a player carded and minutes later Liam Ferguson plunged over for a debut and bonus point winning try.

Lee Cairney struck over his third conversion and followed up with a penalty as Alloa began to see some daylight.

Glenrothes rallied briefly and scored a third try and Scott McLellan became the second Alloa player yellow carded during the afternoon.

It could have been a nervy finale however a second Cairney penalty calmed things down and Alloa finished with a flourish.

A sweeping move and brilliant offloading ended with Lee Cairney crashing through for his side's fifth try. Cairney's conversion of his own try brought the match to its conclusion.

Bearing in mind Alloa had four of five players making their first start of the season, the coaches will be delighted with another five points in the bag and continued good spirit and belief within the squad.

There is no match next Saturday and the squad return to action at Dundee University on the 14th of October. The club plan to take a coach to this fixture and organise a social evening at the club on return. More details to follow.

VICTORY: Alloa ran out winners against Glenrothes. Pictures by Gordon Murray