Arbroath lined up with the same line up as the cup game last week with the exception being Stephen Fraser, who came in for the suspended Steven Rennie.
Arbroath started the game the much brighter side, and nearly went ahead after 6 minutes. A cross into the box from the left wing was met by Marc Millar, but he somehow put the ball over the bar from 3 yards out.
Arbroath completely controlled the first 15 minutes of the game, and were unlucky not to get a goal in this time. Stuart MacDonald and Gavin Swankie were combining well down the right hand side of midfield, and together got some great crosses into the box, but there was nobody on the end to finish them.
On 25th minutes, Arbroath had another good chance. A great passing move out of defence saw Gavin Swankie cross the ball in for Henner, but his knockdown fell just behind Alan Brazil.
On 31 minutes, Arbroath got the a first, deserved goal. A Gavin Swankie shot from the left hand side of the box was parried by the Alloa keeper, and Alan Brazil netted the rebound to make it 1-0.
Five minutes after this Neil Inglis had his first save of the game to make. A cross into the box from the Alloa winger was met by the head of Andy “Bomber” Brown, and Inglis made a great point blank save to keep it at 1-0.
After 40 minutes, Jamie Bishop got injured. I’m not sure what happened, but the stretcher was on, and he had to go straight up the tunnel, and it looked like a knee injury, awful news for Arbroath with such important games coming up. Greg Millar came on for him, and slotted into the right back position, with Kevin McMullen moving up to midfield.
The Half Time whistle came, with Arbroath leading comfortably, and with the slope in the 2nd half, it looked like the 3 points would be coming back to Arbroath!
The 2nd half started just as we started off the 1st. The first chance fell to Kevin “Flyer” McMullen. Some great work from Gavin Swankie down the left flank saw him put a great cross into the box, which Flyer headed straight into the hands of the Alloa keeper.
Two minutes later Arbroath scored the 2nd goal of the game, through Greg Henslee. A throw in from the right found Gavin Swankie, who quickly turned and crossed to the back post for Henner to tap in!
Arbroath continued to press, with Flyer putting a great cross from Alan Brazil just inches over the bar. The pressure continued, with some great passing and one touch football from AFC. Then with 67 minutes gone everything went pear shaped. An Alloa corner saw a scrappy goal conceded, and Alloa were undeservedly back in it.
Arbroath then completely collapsed. Four minutes later Alloa got a 2nd. Another scrappy goal conceded due to poor closing down. Then with 15 minutes left Alloa scored a 3rd. Greg Millar tried to see the ball out for a goal kick, but the Alloa play won the ball, then beat Stephen Fraser and rolled the ball into the bottom corner of the net. After this, Greg Millar and Flyer went head to head, with the referee having to split them up. It’s good to see they care so much about the club, but it’s not so good to see your captain squaring up to his fellow teamate!
On 82 minutes it was 4-2. A cross in from the right saw Neil Inglis make a complete mess of a cross, and Andy Brown head the ball out his hands and into the net. Gavin Swankie had some late shots, but they were to no avail, and it ended 4-2 to Alloa.
In the first 67 minutes, I saw some of the best football from an Arbroath side in years, during the last 20 minutes I saw some of the worst defending and communication between an Arbroath side in years. If we play like we did in the first 65 minutes for the rest of the season then we will finish mid table. If we play like we did the last 20 minutes for the rest of the season, we wont pick up another point. I hope to God I never see an Arbroath collapse like that again this season.