Match Report - By Grant Hood

ALLOA ATHLETIC 1-2 BRECHIN CITY

CITY FINISH 2016 IN THIRD PLACE WITH BACK-TO-BACK VICTORIES

Brechin City finished off their 2016 fixtures with an away win over League One rivals Alloa Athletic which thrilled the players and the Management Team - as well as the numerous travelling fans who had chosen to give up their last minute Christmas Eve shopping in favour of supporting their City favourites at The Indodrill Stadium.

City started the game with Aron Lynas in a defensive wide right position and Aberdeen loanee striker Connor McLennan starting his second game following his impressive scoring debut. Keeper Graeme Smith also made the starting XI after being rated 50/50 in the lead up to the game.

Darren Dods' men started off very much on the front foot, with a chance falling to Ally Love within the first 30 seconds, but he couldn’t make contact with the ball dropping from height. The game was barely a minute old when Alan Trouten had the ball in the net but, sadly for City fans, it was a comfortable offside decision for the standside assistant.

Willie Dyer shot over the bar before subsequently being the recipient of the first of the game’s seven yellow cards. With Willie off the field for treatment following his transgression, Alloa surged forward into their first period of sustained pressure. Livewire Iain Flanagan created greatest concern, forcing ‘Buzz’ in the City goal into his first meaningful save.

The referee found himself under increasing scrutiny as a series of midfield challenges were becoming increasingly robust. A further sequence of cautions followed for City’s Alan Trouten, Gary Fusco and Dougie Hill, which didn’t accurately reflect that both sides were guilty of a variety of full-blooded challenges.

City’s outrageous run of injuries continued as, just before the half-hour, the impressive Euan Smith had to be carried off after twisting his knee in a midfield challenge, after catching his studs in the often-debated artificial turf.

Alan Trouten had a great chance to put City ahead after 38 minutes. Willie Dyer intercepted a midfield pass and played a raking pass forward. ‘Trouts’ took a wickedly sublime first touch, before his second saw the ball sail harmlessly over the bar.

He would be at the heart of the action moments later however, as City took the lead in controversial fashion. Loanee Connor McLennan chased a lost cause to gather possession and rolled the ball back to allow Gary Fusco to fire in a cross from City’s left. Trouten pinged a first-time shot goalwards which was saw a Parry parry. The loose ball was chased by Ally Love who hit the deck quicker than a Club photographer on grassy knoll in Alloa town centre – (City fans: ask around, this one’s comedy gold!) – the clash with the keeper resulting in the award of a penalty, much to the chagrin of the homesters. Alan Trouten coolly struck the ball home low to the keeper’s right, converting his 19th penalty out of 21 taken during his time with the Glebe Park side.

The Wasps started the second half with the same urgency as City had started the first, with Flanagan cutting in from the right and shooting over the bar, before the referee started to even out the caution count with a yellow card issued to home midfielder Steven Hetherington.

The equaliser for Alloa came about through some impressive creativity. A Scott Taggart cross from the right was deftly flicked on by Greig Spence, allowing former City loanee Jordan Kirkpatrick to take an exquisite first touch before slotting the ball past the onrushing Graeme Smith for parity.

It only took City 4 minutes to regain the lead, albeit in slightly bizarre fashion. With Finn Graham passively returning from a clearly offside position, the home defence clearly thought all danger had dissipated. However, indecision between home keeper Neil Parry and defender Jason Marr, and a slack touch from the latter, allowed Ally Love to get what would become the game’s decisive touch as his left-footed challenge deflected the ball towards the unguarded net – much to the obvious glee of the City hitman as he sprinted towards the City fans to celebrate.

After an hour’s play, Connor McLennan showed magnificent strength and ball retention skills right in front of the technical areas, holding off 3 Alloa players, before being brutally exited from field of play by Hetherington. Amazingly, the referee deemed not to reach for a second yellow card, a questionable decision subtly reinforced by Wasps’ boss Jim Goodwin who substituted the home midfielder moments later.

Shortly after, McLennan was in the action again, winning a free-kick at the edge of the penalty area, which saw the games 7th yellow card being issued to defender Andy Graham – before Dougie Hill blasted the effort over the bar.

The home side were enjoying plenty of possession, but without a real cutting edge. In a not infrequent breakaway, Finn Graham made a lung-busting 60-yard run, before fizzing the ball across the home goalmouth. This saw Ally Love fizz a reciprocal effort the other direction. The passage of play continued with the ball eventually finding Alan Trouten who was able to round Parry, before the home custodian got a vital touch to concede a corner.

The last real scare for City came on 86 minutes when a spectacular overhead kick from Iain Flanagan dipped only just over the crossbar – although there was still time for ‘Trouts’ to force Parry into another save, this time a tip over the crossbar.

All in all, this was a hugely welcome 3 points for City, ending the year with back-to-back victories after a disheartening sequence of 5 successive defeats. Whilst the injury to Euan Smith is a real worry – especially given the already lengthy absentee list – the players, the Management Team and supporters can legitimately feel a returning sense of optimism as a resurgent Glebe Park side enters 2017 and the third round of League One fixtures handily positioned in third place.

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