The fixture against Dundee scheduled for 7th November has been moved due to being selected for live coverage on BBC Scotland

New date and kick-off as follows:

6 November 2020 3 - 3 Full Time

• Highlights
• Match Info
• Lineups
• Ground

Highlights

Alloa and Dundee were both looking to overcome what’s been a sub-par start to the season for both teams. Alloa, still looking for their first points, bring back Steven Hetherington and Adam Brown in place of Innes Murray and Lee Connelly, respectively. Dundee meanwhile were rocked by a positive COVID-19 test. With one player confirmed infected they were without any adequate cover at CB, with Jordan McGhee their only recognised central defender. Right back Cammy Kerr would slot in in a makeshift Dee defence. ‘The Wasps’ were first break the deadlock. Adam Brown’s corner failed to beat the first man but found it’s way back to the midfielder. Amidst the chaos of the transitioning Dundee defence Robert Thomson was in acres of space. Brown’s delivery left it on a platter for Alloa’s top scorer to slot past the helpless Calum Ferrie. Dundee came out energised at the second half and leveled from a Declan McDaid volley. Unsighted with the ball coming through a crowd of players, Willison, who was rooted to the spot could only watch as it raced into the bottom corner. With the seeming momentum with the away side, Alloa struck back. Liam Dick headed into the mix and ever agile and dangerous in the box Cawley shot off Trouten’s layoff, but saw his effort straight at Ferrie saved. Alan Trouten, thankfully, anticipated the rebound and handily tapped home to send Alloa into the lead again. Lee Connolly, after driving through two Dundee defenders had an excellent opportunity to extend the lead, but instead of laying a square pass on the plate for Trouten the forward had his effort blocked in what should have been a corner. The officials though failed to see the deflection amidst the increasing fog. Minutes later though Alloa would again sting James McPake’s side as Hetherington driven shot was diverted off the studs of Alan Trouten to meg Currie and give the ‘Wasps’ a commanding lead. Dundee inevitably reacted and systematically forced the increasingly defensive Wasps back. Paul McGowan managed to feint and spin to open a wonderful opportunity from 8 yards but for a rapid, reflex save by Reece Willison that wowed the watching TV cameras. Charlie Adam had the corner delivered straight into the net, only to see it being chopped off fairly for a push on Willison. But soon Alloa would concede. Adam’s ball into the box ricocheting off the post. Willison rooted to the spot couldn’t react as the sliding Cammy Kerr saw it unknowingly deflected into the back of the net. Unfortunate but Alloa still had the advantage and 12 minutes to hold off their challengers. Again, Charlie Adam would be at the centre of the Dundee threat. His driven effort was blocked by Taggart but Adam was given a massive helping hand by the officials. Alan Muir pointed to the penalty spot despite Taggart’s arm being pinned to his chest and not deviating to meet the ball. Hardly an ‘unnatural silhouette’ as stipulated by the handball rule and hardly any time to react to Adam’s rasping shot otherwise. The former Liverpool midfielder rattled the penalty home despite Willison diving the right way, beating him with sheer power to the bottom corner. And then it was Dundee’s turn to feel aggrieved by the officials. McDaid sustaining a mistimed challenge from Connelly was upended in the box. Despite the clear contact on the Dundee winger referee Alan Muir deemed the former Ayr man had dived. With such an exciting game of football, punctuated with some great play at either end both teams walked away with the overriding feeling of what could have been. Alloa pick up their first hard-earned point of the season and look forward to a potential Betfred cup qualification against Stenhousemuir on Saturday.

Alloa Athletic

31	Reece Willison Goalkeeper
3	Liam Dick Defender
2	Scott Taggart Defender
5	Andy Graham Defender
8	Jon Robertson Midfielder
6	Steven Hetherington Midfielder
22	Ray Grant Midfielder
7	Kevin Cawley Midfielder
10	Alan Trouten Midfielder	51', 62'
14	Adam Brown 17 Midfielder
19	Robert Thomson 23 Forward	31'
9	Liam Buchanan Forward
12	Stefan Scougall Midfielder
17	Lee Connelly 14 Forward
18	Blair Malcolm Midfielder
21	Andy Wilson Goalkeeper
23	Innes Murray 19 Midfielder
25	Edin Lynch Defender

Dundee

12	Calum Ferrie Goalkeeper
16	Christie Elliot Defender
2	Cammy Kerr Defender	76'
3	Jordan McGhee Defender
23	Jordan Marshall Defender
8	Shaun Byrne 24 Midfielder
9	Danny Mullen
10	Paul McGowan Forward
11	Declan McDaid Midfielder	47' 90'
26	Charlie Adam Midfielder	84'
17	Jonathan Afolabi 21 Forward
1	Jack Hamilton Goalkeeper
21	Osman Sow 19 Forward
24	Max Anderson 8 Midfielder
27	Luke Strachan Forward
39	Nicholas Hamilton Forward
20	Jack Wilkie Midfielder
19	Finlay Robertson 21 Midfielder

Ground

Indodrill Stadium
Indodrill Stadium, Alloa

Alloa Athletic are pleased to announce the signing of former Carlisle United midfielder Stefan Scougall.

Stefan will feature in the Betfred Cup group stage along with his first senior team, Livingston. He made 70 appearances at the Lions, scoring 9, which ended with a move down south to Sheffield United.

After 76 appearances at Bramall Lane and a short stint on loan at Fleetwood Town, Stefan returned to Scotland with St Johnstone. But his time at Perth was marred by injury and the diminutive midfielder again moved south to Carlisle United for the 2018-19 season.

After another 40 appearances in the North of England, Stefan’s search for regular football has lead him to the Indodrill where he’ll wear the number 12 jersey.

Welcome to the Wasps Stefan!

We’re pleased to welcome back our main shirt sponsors, Northern Gas and Power for another season.

Who are NGP?

Northern Gas and Power offers specialist services in energy procurement, energy management, targeting, and reduction. We are the largest energy consultancy by customer volume and managed TWhs and we work with 10’s of 1000’s of clients across 3 continents. That is why Northern Gas and Power is the preferred choice when it comes to professional energy services.

They’ve built a sterling reputation in providing the best service and investing in people.

Their continued partnership with Alloa Athletic has helped us secure little wins and, hopefully, some big wins in the future.

Alloa Athletic are pleased to welcome back Lee Connelly on a season long loan from Sunderland FC.

The promising youngster’s Alloa career had just ignited in 2020. His first start saw a first goal and an assist against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Lee’s not going to have any unfinished business at the Indodrill as he returns to the team before the Betfred Cup campaign kicks off against Airdrieonians on October 7th.

He’ll wear the number 17 shirt this season.

We’re pleased to announce the signing of 20 year old defender Edin Lynch. Edin drew plaudits in his time at East Kilbride, and after a promising trial earned a contract with Premiership club Kilmarnock.

First team opportunities were at a premium, at Rugby Park, for the young defender who featured regularly in the Killie Reserves.

Peter Grant has snapped up the youngster on the expiry of his Kilmarnock contract on a year-long deal.

Edin is a young defender who can play anywhere across the defence, we spoke to Kilmarnock just after his release and they qualified what we already thought about him: he will prove to be a very valuable addition to the squad. He’s at a fantastic age and has a real hunger. With the squad we have here I have no doubt he will only get better. We are really looking forward to working with him.

Peter Grant. Alloa Manager

The 22-year-old midfielder has been a mainstay in the Hibernian Development team; while he impressed at spells on loan at Stenhousemuir and Airdrieonians in previous years.

He steps up to make his first foray into Championship football with ‘the Wasps’ on a season long loan.

Innes has already impressed at training at the Indodrill and we look forward to seeing him in competitive action in an Alloa shirt.

Nationality

Scotland

Position

Midfielder

Height

5'11"

Weight

11st 9lbs

Birthday

17 February 1998

Age

27

Twenty three year old midfield player, Raymond Grant has tonight joined “The Wasps” after turning down an offer to extend his stay with Danny Lennon at Clyde where he was a great favourite and a key figure in their team since joining from Norwich City in 2018. We are delighted he has chosen to join his father at Alloa Athletic to play in the Championship next season.

Alloa manager Peter Grant is delighted his son has decided to join us:

It was an extremely difficult decision, first of all for him to leave Clyde as he has had a fantastic time there with a special group of players and staff and a very supportive Clyde support, he had to make his decision what he wanted to do next, to be honest it has been a tough few weeks for him after I asked him would he come and join us and I fully understand why, but for me it was easy football wise, as it fits with the players we have. I’m really looking forward to working with him and I’m sure he will be really excited working along with the fantastic group of players and people we already have at the club.

The suspension of football by the Scottish FA will be lifted from Monday 24 August in line with the update provided by the First Minister yesterday to phase three of the Scottish Government’s route map out of the COVID-19 crisis.

In practical terms, this means that contact training for the youth and adult game – including professional and non-professional – can resume from Monday morning in line with updated government guidelines.

The details were outlined today to Scottish Championship, League One and League Two clubs in a series of videoconference calls hosted by the Joint Response Group. Further meetings are scheduled for tiers 5 and 6 of the Scottish football pyramid early next week.

Guidance has also been issued by the JRG Grassroots Sub Group throughout the recreational game in conjunction with sportscotland and the Scottish FA’s Return to Football Hub has been updated to reflect the most recent advice.

Rod Petrie, Joint Response Group Chair:

“This is a significant and hugely positive step forward for the whole of Scottish football and means that training can resume for both the professional and grassroots game from Monday.

“I understand the sacrifices players, coaches and clubs have been forced to make to get to this point but the health of the nation remains our absolute priority. Through the JRG and its grassroots sub group we have worked hard since yesterday’s announcement from the First Minister to put the latest government advice into context for the professional and non-professional game and to make the message as clear and as simple as possible.

“Training can resume on Monday in line with government’s ongoing social distancing measures and advice and, if the virus continues to be contained in Scotland, then the path to competitive football matches being played by October is tangible.

“We must continue to be vigilant and respect the guidance and protocols that are in place but on the JRG calls with Championship, League One and League Two today you could sense the anticipation to get football back and I know from my board colleague, Thomas McKeown, that the announcement has been met with similar excitement across the grassroots game.”

Thomas McKeown, Scottish FA Board Director and Chair of the JRG Grassroots Sub Group:

“We are pleased to move into the next phase of our routemap to the Return to Football, and the resumption of contact training and small-sided games within clubs at both adult and youth football is an extremely positive step forward.

“We wholly appreciate how keen everyone is to return fully to the game by restarting leagues and match activity but we also appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we move at the pace that we hope will ensure that as many people return to the game as possible by creating a welcoming, fun and most importantly, safe environment for all.”

The news comes in light of the First Minister announcing that Scottish football grounds could be opened up to fans from September 14, with restricted numbers and physical distancing measures in place. Discussions are already well under way to prepare for the Return to Supporting phase and Scottish Premiership clubs are currently producing documentation that will facilitate the gradual return to supporters within the configurations of each of the 12 stadia, including access and egress, logistics and health and safety protocols.

Neil Doncaster, SPFL Chief Executive:

“This is a major milestone in getting our game fully up and running again. It’s hard to overstate the significance of this development for clubs outwith the Premiership, which can now start preparing with confidence for the Betfred Cup on 6 October.

“The next crucial step will be allowing Scottish football fans back into games, based on the comprehensive range of safety measures which have been developed by clubs in close consultation with health experts.

“Discussions on pilot events at Premiership matches are now under way and everyone is determined, for the sake of the Scottish game as a whole, to ensure these go smoothly and safely.”