Reaction

“The Wasps” defeated league leaders Hamilton Accies to gain a vital three points, proving on their day they are a match for any of the sides we have played already this season in the new SPFL Championship. Hamilton in the first half, showed just how good a team they are and Paul Hartley’s men had to show great concentration to keep the league leaders from scoring. The incident which was to change the game all appeared to be in slow motion, Jason Marr’s netbound header went past the keeper and Alex Neil, instinctively saved the ball, preventing a goal, which was missed by the referee and far side linesman, after the Alloa players appealed and the referee took a tumble, the standside linesman confirmed what had happened – Alex Neil was then sent off and Ryan McCord scored the resultant penalty. In the second half the ten men of Hamilton still had their fair share of possession but “The Wasps” used the extra width and space and took the game when possible to the visitors but were denied a cushion of a second goal, Kevin Cawley came closest but headed over from a good position. Iain Flannigan made his Alloa debut and fitted in well, Paul Hartley’s side played football and defended well when required.

paul hartley after defeating league leaders

This is a great three points for us because they are the league leaders and they had been unbeaten until now so we are pleased about it. A clean sheet for us as well was a nice bonus for us. Obviously, the sending off changes the game but I thought we defended really well, we were resolute and then we hit them on the break in numbers at times. Those three points were vital for us. We were pleased to get back on track after two league defeats in a row but we know things are going to be a little bit up and down this year for us in the league. We just need to try and show a little bit more consistency now. I thought overall we were worthy winners and I am delighted because they are a good team, they pass the ball well and they are at the top of the league for a reason. So it is pleasing to be the first team to beat them in the league this season, we know we are hard to beat here at Recreation Park. I praised the guys in the dressing for how well we limited them in terms of chances. They tested us with a lot of cross balls and played from back to front a lot but I thought the back four and especially the two centre backs stood up to the threat well. When you then have a keeper like Scott Bain behind you just mop things up, then it was very comfortable. This win sums everything up about our team, it is all about how well we have done so far and I have to give the players credit. They work hard every week and they thoroughly deserved the three points. Bouncing back from the Raith Rovers game was hard having played so well at Starks Park, but that’s what happens in football. No one gave us a chance in this match but I always felt with the group of players that I have here that we had a chance of winning and that’s exactly what we did. Luckily for us, the linesman on the near side had seen the penalty incident because the referee missed it. It was a stonewall penalty and a sending off as the ball was going in anyway.