A Son of the Rock

Recreation Park, 17/10/09

Wow! Up three places. And, amazingly, above someone on goal difference. Joint sixth if you want to look at it that way and only three points off a play-off place. (Or one point the other way if you like.)

That’s four away games in a row won on the bounce – if you count the Stirlingshire Cup final. Dare we begin to hope?

This was my first visit to the revamped Recreation Park. It looks tidy but the “terracing” is now all flat – except, as before, behind the goals – and so doesn’t give as good a view. The temporary stand is OK but looks a bit like horizontal scaffolding, with seats. The pitch still slopes but not as much. Being artificial the bounce is still sometimes weird but the ball runs truly enough.

I thought we thoroughly deserved the win. We had the better of the first half till we scored (nice outside of the foot finish by Andy Geggan, though Chaplain should have scored the one-on-one which led to it.) Alloa huffed and puffed but not much more till Vojáček punched a ball straight up in the air and the ensuing muddle (where Chris Smith* seemed to have control of the situation) somehow led to an Alloa player smashing the ball in. Looked like 1-1 at half time but up popped Alan Cook at the far post to slide the ball home.

Second half Alloa had a lot of the play but didn’t really do much. A great move set up by a fine pass from Ben Gordon led to a cross from which Chaplain flicked the ball in via the keeper and a defender. Dreamland. It’s the first time I’ve been hugged at a goal by a total stranger. (He apologised a few moments later, claiming emotion had got the better of him.)

From then on we looked threatening every time we went up the park. Sub Kieran Brannan skinned his defender and was brought down when he only had the keeper between him and the goal but the defender only got a yellow card. Ryan McStay was booked after clearly pulling out of a challenge, but the guy fell down anyway. Where do refs get some of their decisions from?

The home form needs to improve now.

Edited to add:- We played in the third strip. It looks brilliant. The black, gold and black stripes make it just so much classier than the blue shorts second strip.

*Further edited after watching SonsTV. Chris Smith was in there somewhere but Alan Cook was the one who could have booted the ball out. He had a good game first half, though.)