Alloa v Kelty

[Waspie]

Don't see a thread for this, the first competitive match between the clubs I think (not sure if there were ever any friendlies over the years). Strongest link is a certain former manager of both sides  who did considerably better in Fife than in Clackmannanshire. 

Suspect Mark Durnan will be out for us after going off injured at East End Park. Is Andy Graham's suspension up? Hopefully he is available to slot back in and John Robertson is also over the illness that kept him out last week. 

Seemed that Alloa and Kelty were both a little unfortunate to lose on the opening day and the sides will be determined to get things kick-started tomorrow. 'Mon the Wasps. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Waspie

[leomessi1984]

We should have won the opener no doubt. Likely Austin will be back but still no Higgy is a miss. New boy Logan should start so we're not far away from full strength. 

Think it is a first competitive game for sure.

Mon the Kelty! 

Edited August 5, 2022 by leomessi1984

[BFTD]

I have a cracking migraine today, so I'm going to sit in a darkened room and seethe about missing our first competitive match against the Keltese. Frankly, a defeat might cause my cranium to pop, and not in that fun P&B Heads Gone way.

They don't appear to have got off to a flying start this season, so fingers crossed for a entertaining afternoon and some points on the board by this evening  

[leomessi1984]

2 hours ago, BFTD said:

I have a cracking migraine today, so I'm going to sit in a darkened room and seethe about missing our first competitive match against the Keltese. Frankly, a defeat might cause my cranium to pop, and not in that fun P&B Heads Gone way.

They don't appear to have got off to a flying start this season, so fingers crossed for a entertaining afternoon and some points on the board by this evening  

Looks like 3 at this point for the Wasps. We're not firing at all.

[Vegetableman]

Worth the 2 goal lead anyway , Kelty poor finishing but not necesarilly deserving much 

good on Rodden for his goals great effort by him , we can play better though .

[Kelheart]

Dug meat up top , Potter doesn’t  seem to have a plan b , young loanees look no better than what we have , wine yes please 

Mon Kelty 

[Alloamad]

We were well worth the 3 points today [emoji106] Disappointed we couldn’t keep the clean sheet, Church has to do more to stop the cross. Rice was raging. Taggs needs to play on the right though, as witnessed by his delivery for Roddens first goal. Sammon and McIvors link up/ hold up play was really good in first half and can only improve and with Rodden coming on with pace and work rate, defenders won’t relish that. I thought that it was a good team performance against a Kelty side who have undoubtedly got some good players. I thought their number 22 was a real handful and had some great touches and movement. Disappointing to see Scougs go off injured and hope its not serious [emoji1696]

[Rory]

Your number 22 looked decent when he got on the ball, particularly in the first half.

Liked Roddens energy when he came on, hopefully he can bag a few goals this season

[printer]

Very good and deserved three points today. Kelty started brightly, but we came into it and after Scougs' goal direct from a corner we were the better team. 

Couple of decent chances missed and then Rodden sticks one away nicely from Taggs cross after a nice interchange of passes down the right. Rodden's pace and harrying had the Kelty defence rattled and he took advantage of panic to slide his second in.

No failures for us today. I thought McIver had a really good game. The other new players also did well (Hogarth, Stanger and Miller). Hopefully Scougs' injury isn't serious. Rodden deserves to start next week, with probably Sammon (who looked tired as the second half wore on) dropping out.

Kelty were poorer than I expected, although they clearly have good players.

Edited August 6, 2022 by printer

[Sixtyten]

Kelty started brightly, and our bizarre opener was slightly against the run of play.

We were probably worth the win from then on, despite a patchwork line up which saw Taggart in an uncomfortable left sided role, and Cawley wide right where he's less effective imo.

MacIver and Sammon were their usual nuisance selves, but they still lack that finishing instinct. That's where Rodden entered the scene with two neatly taken goals. By this point Taggart was back to his more familiar right side and his cross for our 2nd was a gem.

While we were helped by some rotten goalkeeping, there were good performances throughout the team today.

[Dink]

For the first 10 or 15 minutes I thought that a big defeat was potentially on the cards as Kelty, and particularly Agyeman, were causing us all sorts of problems. Durnan and Taggart began to settle in to their tussle with Agyeman, however, and after that I thought that we were pretty comfortable at the back.

In general the game was pretty scrappy but I thought that we created the better chances and deserved the win, albeit we were given a massive helping hand for two of the goals. We don't yet have the look of a settled side and hopefully there are still a couple of loan signings to come in, which would let us play more players in their strongest positions.

I am expecting Kelty to be challenging for the promotion play-offs at least, so to get an early 3 points against them is an excellent result.

[LeodhasXD]

No midnight highlights - went out for a few pints earlier. Just sitting down to do them now.

[Cardle is Magic]

4 hours ago, printer said:

Kelty were poorer than I expected, although they clearly have good players.

I wonder what could be the issue...

[LeodhasXD]

 

[Vegetableman]

How is Durnan's right foot after the collision with the dugout  ?

 

[KierenAAFC]

I wondered what that thud was when Durnan went off!  Has to have been pre-arranged with the knock he had, with the injuries too it settled our back four with Taggart going back to his natural position, which he showed how good he is with the second goal. Was good to see Durnan, Stanger and Graham all on though. A strong line-up.

I thought we deserved our victory yesterday. Game opened up in a strange way with the goal but we had a good few chances in the first half, King's header was a glorious opportunity. Second half, despite being disrupted at the start, was a lot more open and that is where that Rodden sub worked a treat. He worked so hard and was a right nuisance, most importantly two striker's finishes. Always good to see. I'm not sure if he starts next week, I wouldn't be against it but I would wonder if it was perfect timing to bring that side of the game as we opened up the defence a little bit. Sammon and MacIver's link-up was fairly decent. Was a shame we let the clean sheet slip but as the manager says, the cross shouldn't come into the box. 

Thought Kelty were poor. Plenty of the ball but no real threat. Of course, Austin and Higginbotom coming back makes them stronger but just felt the boy Docherty cut a very isolated and lonely figure all game. Foster and Jamieson a bit ropey too. Agyeman the stand-out, we did get to grips with him but he was a threat. 

Good to get off the mark yesterday and get three points on the board nice and early, after last weekend's close dissapointment too. Massive game next week too that we should definitely be looking to take three points from too. Sounds like Scouggs might be ok but that is massive. Getting Taggs back on the right too would make a big difference. 

[Father Barrys Sign (Top Half)]

Quite a bizarre game. I thought we played better last week, but despite Kelty giving us 2 absolute gifts thought we still deserved to win comfortably.

We took a good half hour to really get going and unsurprisingly looked a whole lot better in 2nd half when Robbo came on and we had full backs in their natural positions. That's the main issue I see so far- our strongest 11 should give anyone in the league a game. But although the players are certainly capable, fitting square pegs in round holes by necessity is producing mixed results.

I felt sorry for Church, because he improved the team from the bench, reacted well to being dropped from the starting 11- but will probably be remembered for not stopping that cross for the inconsequential Kelty consolation.

Kelty passed the ball around okay but our defence had a fairly easy afternoon. They also looked ropey at the back, and the first goal shouldn't be happening at any level above primary school really.

Pleased for Rodden with his 2 goals and agree with Kieren that he may be more suited to the impact sub role for now.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Father Barrys Sign (Top Half)

[Kevchenko]

2 minutes ago, Father Barrys Sign (Top Half) said:

I felt sorry for Church, because he improved the team from the bench, reacted well to being dropped from the starting 11- but will probably be remembered for not stopping that cross for the inconsequential Kelty consolation.

I’ve given Church plenty of stick and he definitely needs to be stopping that cross coming in, but I’m with you, I thought he did really well when he came on yesterday. 
 

Other than the goal, he was solid tracking back and his first touch when he came on was to go past a man, get a yard of space and got a ball in to the box - for me, that’s exactly what he needs to do. Not looking for anything more than that, be solid defensively and get balls in the box when he’s in the final third. 
 

Also thought we were good value for the win yesterday, albeit helped by a couple of gifts. 
 

Kelty moved the ball well but looked pretty toothless up top, and I thought it was a pretty comfortable afternoon for Hogarth and the defence - just a shame to have missed out on the clean sheet. 
 

No failures, but Stanger was a stand out again for me. He has settled in brilliantly. Delighted for Rodden as well getting off the mark, will be great for his confidence. 

[Oweny]

A good 3 points yesterday and we were efficient as opposed to outstanding. Great second goal and at least the team look well organised and have a decent  shape about them. 

Still think we are lightweight in the middle of the pitch and both strikers combined well but both are similar. 

Kelty for me looked like a team who obviously have experienced quality players in their ranks but look to be struggling with the step up to league 1 at the minute. 

A good three points for Alloa but I reckon the manager is still looking to add a few players in key positions .

[Arab_R_us]

Good to see young Robson getting 90 mins, hopefully he does well for Kelty