JIM GOODWIN hailed his Alloa history makers after they sealed their Championship survival with a draw at Ayr United.

The Wasps opened the scoring as Connor Shields' first-half strike topped off a period of extended dominance from the visitors before Lawrence Shankland equalised soon after.

But, Alloa continued to press the issue and were unfortunate not to seal all three points with Dario Zanatta, Shields, and Kevin Cawley all going close in the second half.

A point was enough, however, thanks to Queen of the South's defeat to Partick Thistle, and Alloa's band of fans serenaded their heroes at the full time whistle.

And for Goodwin – who narrowly missed out on being named PFA Manager of the Year – the 8th placed finish was the perfect end to a season of triumph.

Goodwin told Advertiser Sport: "It was a fantastic day and all the hard work that we put in over the last ten months has paid off.

"It was probably the longest half of football I have experienced in my career and the most satisfying when the final whistle went.

"The boys in the dressing room are just over the moon to be a Championship team again next year.

"I am delighted for everybody at the club. From board level right down to the players and the supporters and for all those guys for sticking with us."

Alloa were seemingly everyone's pick at the start of the season to finish dead last with some expecting them to have to work to beat Brechin City's record low points tally.

The chance to prove everyone wrong inspired many of Alloa's performances this year and Goodwin was revelling in having done just that.

The Irishman said: "You guys in the press wrote us off and I think we were bottom of every prediction table and the players deserve great credit for ramming it down everyone's throat.

"They have shown they are more than capable of being in this league and have won a heck of a lot of games.

"It's not easy juggling jobs and keeping fit and all that kind of stuff.

"When I put the squad together in the summer, I knew that if I could get the right loan players in then we would have as good a chance as anyone.

"You talk about budgets and you can talk about part-time and all that, but it doesn't matter because in any industry if you can get the right group of people together in a dressing room then you create an unbelievable team spirit.

"I always believed we could have stayed in the league and when I look at some our results which didn't go our way I just wonder how high we could have finished; although I don't want to get greedy."