Match Report - By John Hoey

City moved up into second place in the Irn Bru Second Division after a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Alloa at Glebe Park.

Rory McAllister was the Brechin hero, scoring the winner in the 90th minute after it looked as if both sides would have to settle for a point apiece.

Manager Jim Duffy kept faith with the side that had beaten Stenhousemuir two weeks previously.

City were shocked in the 4th minute when Alloa grabbed the lead with a well-worked goal.

Mark Gilhaney made room for himself on the left touchline and sent over a great cross into the penalty-box for John Grant, whose header gave City keeper Craig Nelson no chance.

Brechin’s first chance came in the 17th minute when McAllister picked up a pass on the left and bore in on goal, but his right-foot shot went inches past the post.

City won a corner four minutes later and Charlie King’s kick was headed out to the edge of the box to Neil Janczyk, whose first-time volley was well wide of the target. Gary Fusco tried a shot a couple of minutes later, but again, it was wide of the post. Mark Docherty came closer still in the 26th minute when his left-foot drive was just inches past.

At the other end, in the 28th minute, a Brian Carrigan free-kick was deflected for a corner but City cleared their lines well.

City were having the better of the opening 45 minutes, and they came close again in the 29th minute when a net-bound Janczyk volley took a deflection, but City’s pressure paid off just four minutes later when they grabbed the equaliser from the penalty-spot.

Docherty picked up the ball on the left and weaved into the penalty- box before being brought down by Scott Agnew. Referee David Somers was well-placed to see the incident and pointed immediately to the penalty-spot and Charlie King then stepped up to drive the spot-kick beyond the reach of Wasp’s keeper David Crawford.

Docherty almost put City into the lead just a couple of minutes later when he was clean through, but a wonderful tackle from Mark Brown averted the danger.

City picked up where they left off after the break and a good Docherty pass gave King an opportunity in the 46th minute but he shot over the bar.
Agnew tried a shot from 20 yards for the visitors a couple of minutes later but Craig Nelson saved well.

A great move from City in the 51st minute almost brought another goal when McAllister made room for himself on the right before delivering a great pass across the box for King whose first-time shot was brilliantly stopped by Crawford.

In the 65th minute a quick break by the visitors gave Andrew Scott a sight at goal, but he shot over from good position and in the 71st minute, Carrigan headed a Mark McCafferty cross over the bar.

The visitors had had lots of possession during the second-half without creating any real clear-cut chances and they paid the price when Brechin wrapped up victory right at the death with a great goal from McAllister.

The striker collected a King pass at the edge of the penalty-box before unleashing a fierce right-foot drive which gave Crawford no chance in the Alloa goal.

City boss Jim Duffy said,
“ It was a very tough game for us today.”

“ In the first-half, I thought that the team played really well and played some really good football.

“ We had a couple of chances through Mark Docherty and Rory McAllister and even although we lost an early goal, I couldn’t be too critical. It was an excellent goal and a really hard one to defend against.”

“ It was a really good football match between the two teams during the opening 45 minutes and it was good that we got the equaliser from Charlie King from the penalty-spot after Mark Docherty had been brought down in the box.”

“ Alloa were certainly the better team after the break and we then had to show a different aspect to our game which was to keep battling away.”

“ As the half wore on, I was thinking it would be a point apiece and I would have settled for that given our second-half performance, but then a magnificent goal from Rory won the match for us.”

“ To be honest I was ready to take him off with five minutes remaining because I felt that we needed to freshen things up a bit up front, but Kevin McAllister said to me to keep him on as he felt he’d more to give. Thankfully, I listened to him and it worked out really well for us, so Kevin deserves the credit for speaking up.”

“ I was delighted for Rory that he scored the winner as his attitude has been superb since he came to the club and today I felt that he and Charlie linked up really well up front. Likewise, I felt that Paul McLean, Jon Seeley and Barry Smith were also outstanding for us today.”

“ Alloa are a good side and played some really good football so I was delighted with our victory.”

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