Reaction

Ysterday’s Third Division “Match of the Day” certainly lived up to its expectations in game that both sided were on top at times but Alloa Athletic finally getting their first victory over the Galabank side to move back to the top of the division on merit. Stevie May was to score the all important Alloa goal but on the day there would have been many a candidate for the “Man of the Match” award and manager Paul Hartley rightly praised his whole team. Annan had a lot of possession, especially at the start of the second half but lacked a cutting edge in front of goal, although Alloa only won the goal by a single goal Annan have to thank their goalkeeper Alex Mitchell after he made saves from Kevin Cawley, Mark Docherty, Graeme Holmes and Stevie May in the second period to keep the visitors in the game. This is “The Wasps” first victory over Annan Athletic which was very significant but even more important was the a healthy crowd of 635 who must have been impressed by the football on show, lets hope they will return to watch Alloa Athletic look to consolidate their position at the top of the division.

paul hartley after annan victory

It was a tough game for us we always knew it was going to be hard as Annan are a difficult side to play against but I am delighted with the result it’s brought the monkey of our back as it’s the first win against them which is pleasing for us and it keeps our good run going and it gives us a little bit of leeway between us and Annan now – 5 points and we have still got a game in hand so I am delighted with the effort of the players – we can play a lot better but I think on chances, we created the better chances especially in the second half with Stevie May up front – he scored a really good goal – he was outstanding again today – he just gets on with it – his movement was excellent his work rate and his overall effort for the team was first class. I don’t want to see him leave but it is out with my hands it’s in the hands of St Johnstone – we are hoping that St Johnstone can keep Sandaza and bring a couple of strikers in so that we can keep Stevie because I think it is important that he gets to play first team football and he is getting the opportunity and he is enjoying it and scoring goals, he is playing with a smile on his face. Kevin Cawley and Stevie May work well together – they are a handful for any defence in the league so we are hopeful that we can keep Stevie but if we don’t keep him we will just have to try hard to find someone else – we have got him for next week and hopefully we can keep him to the end of the season. Being undefeated in the last eleven games has given the players a positive reaction, they are enjoying it, the more games they go unbeaten the more confident they get so it’s a great thing in football when you win and don’t lose games the amount of confidence you get – if you lose games the amount of confident it drains from you so we are going in the right direction, we have to keep it going we had two defeats in 19 games and have to keep it going. We are pleased with the progress but there is a lot more to come from the team. It’s hard work to try and stay at the top of the table but it’s not just up to me it’s up to the back team as well if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be in this position – it’s about everybody working hard together and the players have been brilliant they have given me a great response since I took the job in the summer but we have to keep it going there is a long way to go – we are half way through the season but nothing is ever decided in January time so we have to keep the hard work up and see how it goes. There is a long way to go but we won’t get carried away as long as we are in the mix at the end of the season that’s all I have said to the players.