ALLOA came close to bringing Falkirk’s unbeaten season crashing down, until a late penalty saw the points shared on the last day of the season.

The Wasps went into this game with one eye firmly on Tuesday’s playoffs, with Andy Graham heavily rotating the squad in preparation.

This included a rare start for the gaffer, who lined up alongside David Devine, Cammy O’Donnell and Scott Taggart ahead of Tochukwu Ogayi.

Steven Hetherington and Stefan Scougall started in midfield, with Kevin Cawley in the attacking role to round it off.

Steven Buchanan and Ally Roy lined up on the wings and Conor Sammon led the attack.

While most of the traffic was played firmly in Alloa’s direction, The Wasps made good use of the chances they did have as Sammon headed home twice to put Alloa two ahead.

A sense of foreboding filled the stadium, as the Bairns started to worry that their invincible status would fall at the final hurdle.

Seconds before half time, Brad Spencer sent the ball towards Aidan Nesbitt in the box, who turned and fired it past Ogayi to pull one back.

Alloa’s defensive display was second to none in the second half, with Ogayi pulling off some impressive stops to deny worthy equalisers.

He was eventually booked for time wasting, however, remaining hugely entertaining with his efforts to slow down the game.

Falkirk continued to persevere and break through, gaining their opportunity as the referee awarded a penalty for a dubious handball.

Brad Spencer converted from the spot to equalise for Falkirk, seeing out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Falkirk Stadium.

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, Graham said: “The focus was always Tuesday but I’m delighted with the way the boys played.

“I’ve said all along that the squad is really strong and that only goes to prove it today when you look at the lineup that I went with.

“It’s testament to them as professionals with how well they train and how well they look after themselves that they’re able to go out there against a really strong Falkirk side and perform the way they did.

“That will only stand us in really good stead going into the playoffs, it’s going to be two really tough games.”

As Graham said, the focus will have been fully on Tuesday and the manager used this game and the last to get match fitness into some players who haven’t played much recently.

The likes of Tochukwu Ogayi, Kevin Cawley, Ally Roy and Cammy O’Donnell all got valuable minutes ahead of two, and potentially four really important games.

Whereas on the bench, minutes were afforded to Quinn Coulson, Miko Virtanen, Ethan Sutherland, Luke Donnelly and David McKay, who are all expected to play a large part this week.

Graham has been keen to stress that you can never tell who will be called upon in the playoffs and he was delighted with how they performed.

He continued: “Training makes such a difference – when you go out there on a Saturday, regardless of how long it’s been since you’ve played, you’re going to be at it.

“The focus on us was never the result today, the focus for us was always Tuesday night and you saw that in the changes we made, the personnel we went with.

“That was always going to be the case, nothing was going to change my mind on that and fair play to Falkirk, they deserve their celebrations.

“I was really pleased with the show that we put on today and the way we performed.”

Andy Graham starting himself was his first full 90 minutes since Dunfermline at home on May 6, 2023 – nearly a full year ago.

The veteran didn’t look out of place at all and told Advertiser Sport in November when he took the managerial position that he would stay on as a player/manager for use of emergencies.

He explained that his inclusion today was a practical decision, ensuring that nothing untoward happened to David Devine, Dave McKay or Morgyn Neill ahead of the playoffs.

He added: “That was just to look after the boys for Tuesday and that’s the most important thing.

“We need to make sure we’ve got as many players fit as we possibly have for the next two games so that we can give everything we’ve got.

“Hamilton are a good side but so are we and we’re going to give it a right good go.”

Alloa host Hamilton for the first leg of the Championship Playoffs tomorrow night at 7.45pm.