A lacklustre display, coupled with some dubious decisions by the officiasl, ensured that the team from the Wee County would leave Forthbank with full points. The only plus the Binos can take from today’s match was their first league goal of the season albeit it was scored by a defender. This probably sums up the Binos’ problems.

The starting line up, unsurprisingly, showed one change from the midweek cup tie at Kilmarnock with Dunn lining up alongside Turnbull and Devine being relegated to the bench as a 4-5-1 formation at home is the sole domain of Stranraer.

Wilson was the first Bino to show as he stole the ball from Sloan. Unfortunately, Jinky couldn’t control the ball. Turnbull then turned on the edge of the 18 yard box but his left foot shot shot didn’t carry enough power to worry McGlynn. At the other end, Hamilton was fouled just outside the penalty area but Sloan’s left foot curler went about 2 feet over the bar. As play started brightly, Wilson dummied a pass to Nugent and cut inside. However, his shot was partially blocked.

Hogarth did well to deny Andy Brown after the tall striker was left unmarked from a Mortimer cross. A spectacular looking overhead kick by Wilson went inches past. At this stage Wilson was looking lively but the referee ignored a free kick on him and the ball eventually fell to Andy Brown whose cross was smothered by Hogarth.

Alloa took the lead midway through the first half when Graham was judged to have brought down Hamilton in the penalty area. From my position, it looked as though the big defender had just got a touch to the ball before putting in a clearance. In the meantime, Hamilton had nicked in and went down. However, the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Sloan stepped up to send Hogarth the wrong way and the Wasps’ fans into delirium.

The Binos almost equalised just before the half hour mark when Dunn turned in the penalty area and fired in a right foot shot which hit the inside of the post and back into McGlynn’s hands. Boyack then tried to test out McGlynn but his shot, from just inside the 18 yard box, went straight to the keeper.

The Binos were almost punished when Nugent misjudged a through ball but Greenhill’s attempted lob went over the bar. Forsyth then had a fierce shot from a Turnbull cross but, again, the ball went inches over. Half time, 1-0 to Alloa.

The second half started with neither team having made any changes. However, after 10 minutes of the half, this changed when Aitken came on for Paul Hay who was not having one of his better games. A minute later, Graham was unfortunate not to get the equaliser when his header from an O’Brien cross was cleared off the line However,as so often happens, a near miss at one end is followed by a goal at the other. It is fair to say that Alloa’s second goal carried a bit of controversy. Hogarth appeared to have saved Greenhill’s deflected shot. However, the nearside linesman indicated that the ball had crossed the line and the referee awarded the goal despite Hogarth’s protestations. 2-0 to Alloa and every Binos fan felt there was no way back especially in view of the team’s poor goal scoring record. 328 minutes without a league goal.

Dunn became the first player to be booked when he was deemed to have fouled Townsley. The Alloa defender went down as though he had been mortally wounded but made a remarkable recovery without the aid of the physio.

A few minutes later, Devine replaced Wilson in a move that did not meet with universal approval from the home fans.

Hamilton should have done better when a cross from the left found him unmarked but his shot went wide. Turnbull had an opportunity to pull one back but, after controlling a Boyack cross, he hesitated and the chance was lost. Both teams made substitutions with Alloa bringing on Graeme Brown for Andy Brown whilst the Binos brought on Connolly in place of Turnbull.

At this stage, Alloa were seemed to be content to allow the Binos to have possession as there appeared to be little threat to the Alloa goal. A Devine shot from the edge of the box exemplified this as it went straight to McGlynn. Greenhill almost made it three from a breakaway but his weak effort didn’t trouble Hogarth.

As the match went into added time, the Binos scored a consolation goal when Graham rifled in a right foot shot from a corner to make the final score 2-1 to Alloa.

This defeat leaves the Binos anchored at the foot of the table with 1 point and only 1 goal scored in 4 games. Wednesday sees a respite with the visit of 3rd Division Berwick on Bell’s Cup business and, hopefully, a morale boosting win.

I am now off to boost my own morale with a nice bottle of Tempranillo. See you on Wednesday.