Saturday 01 April 2006
| Thistle 2 - 3 Alloa
Written by Lianne |
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| Saturday, 01 April 2006 | |
| Alloa boosted their survival hopes by recording their second win in the space of a month against the Jags. Thistle twice came from behind against the Second Division’s bottom side, but poor defending meant that wasn’t enough and Thistle continue to limp their way towards the play-offs.Manager Dick Campbell made two changes to his line-up for the visit of Alloa; the return of Stephen McConalogue meant Adam Strachan was relegated to the bench, while Darren Brady replaced the suspended Jimmy Gibson in midfield. Alloa were outplayed in their midweek encounter with Stirling, but earned a point in that game to continue their recent good form, and therefore it was no surprise Allan Maitland stuck with the exact same team.
It was Thistle who started the brighter of the two sides and they created the first openings of the game. Firstly, Brady’s run into the box was well picked out and he cut the ball back for Roberts but the Jags top scorer had to stretch slightly to reach the ball and consequently knocked it wide of target. Stephen McConalogue created room for a shot with a nice turn on the edge of the area a few minutes later, but his low drive wasn’t too difficult for the keeper to save. Alloa created their first opening in the 11th minute when John Ovenstone raced down the left and Ross Hamilton headed over his cross at the near post. Billy Gibson then saw his speculative half-volley deflected over the bar, but the visitors were starting to come more and more into the game and it was they who opened the scoring in the 24th minute.Sloan swung in a free-kick from out on the left touchline, and not for the first time in the game Alloa had men free at the back post, and Paul McLeod had all the time in the world to set himself up to nod the ball down past Arthur. Thistle were quick to respond though, and were back on level terms within a few minutes courtesy of Scott McCulloch. He stepped up to rifle a 30-yard free-kick into the bottom right-hand corner of the net with the Alloa defence looking none too impressed with their keeper. Thistle tried to build on that equaliser and Sandy Hodge headed narrowly over from a corner a few minutes later, then Stevie Nicholas failed to control a cross from Roberts in front of goal, but it was the visitors who were to come closest to adding to the scoring. Just after the half hour mark another free kick from Stevenson caused problems inside the Thistle box, it dropped invitingly at the feet of Graeme Brown, but he couldn’t steer his shot past Arthur. The Jags keeper was called into action again five minutes before the interval when defender Michael Bolochoweckyj rose to meet another Stevenson free kick and Kenny showed excellent reactions to tip his header over the bar. McConalogue had a half-chance just before half time when McCulloch’s ball across the box fell into his path, but he summed up Thistle’s fairly lacklustre display by ballooning the ball over the bar. Darren Brady did far better right at the start of the second half when the ball broke to him inside the box, but a fine block from Creer foiled him. But as had been the case in the first half, it was Alloa who were to open the scoring. Ross Hamilton had already had an effort chalked off for offside, but he was more fortunate on the hour mark when he pounced on the ball inside the area following another free kick and his shot took a wicked deflection off team-mate Graeme Brown giving Kenny Arthur no chance. Yet again Thistle responded and they were given the perfect opportunity to get back on level terms less than ten minutes later when Mark Roberts was pulled down by substitute Fraser Forrest and the ref pointed to the spot. Roberts stepped up to take the kick himself, and expertly drove it low into the corner of the net. Thistle’s joy was to be short-lived, and instead of pushing forward and trying to build on their equaliser, they let Alloa come right back at them and just three minutes later they had regained their lead. Sloan was able to cross from the left at the second attempt and a scramble inside the box resulted in Brown sliding the ball home at the near post. The Jags tried to launch an immediate response but Brady’s effort was blocked and then McCulloch’s cross-cum shot landed just the wrong side of the bar. The Jags full-back then came agonisingly close to grabbing his second of the game from another free-kick 12 minutes from time, but while the Alloa defence may have asked questions of keeper Allan Creer at McCulloch’s goal in the first half, this time he pulled off a terrific save low down to his right to push McCulloch’s 25-yard effort round the post. Brady blasted over and then Roberts failed to connect with Strachan’s cross (thanks in part to a shove in the back that was ignored by the ref) as Thistle pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages before substitute Jose Quitongo missed a golden opportunity to score against his former club. With 89 minutes on the clock he popped up latch onto Strachan’s header, but from close-range he could only head against the crossbar. In truth, a late equaliser would probably have harsh on Alloa as they played well and were the better side in this game. While Thistle continue to impress nobody as they stumble unconvincingly towards the finish line, with the play-offs by no means certain despite Stirling also losing today. The discontent amongst the Jags support has been growing, but it was notable for the first time this season that today there was a concerted chant directed towards the manager. And as ‘Rip It Up and Start Again’ filtered out of the Firhill PA system at full-time, few supporters traipsing out of the ground will deny that Campbell has his work cut out to inspire both the team and the support to a successful end to the season. Man of the match:
STATS Attendance: 1920
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