ALLOA manager Danny Lennon heaped praise on his battling troops after their late rally in the 1-1 derby day draw with Falkirk last weekend.

The Wasps had looked down and out when John Baird fired the Bairns in front from the penalty spot following Jason Marr's dismissal, but the gaffer was thrilled by his side's 'never say die' attitude as they fought back with Colin Hamilton's injury time equaliser.

Lennon told Advertiser sport: “I was pleased with a lot of aspects in the game, especially in the first half, I thought we played a lot of good football , we hit on the break very quickly and very unfortunate that some good goalkeeping from Danny Rogers kept them in it, but to be fair they also looked dangerous as well, they had a few corners which looked dangerous, it would have been very easy when things went against us, with the sending off, which was the right decision, it was poor concentration by Jason, the boy John Baird stroke home the penalty well and at that stage it would have been easy for the heads to go down, but they didn’t and they stuck by everything we had said. We tweaked one or two things to also cause Falkirk problems and I was delighted to say that paid off for us, but it was the players who stuck by their instructions and got their reward in the final minute. I was also delighted for Colin Hamilton, he did everything well in the game and struck the ball on target for his goal, and if you don’t buy a raffle ticket you cannot win the lottery.

“We had that never say die attitude today. I thought when you balance the game out over the ninety minutes it was probably the right result. What was positive today was the threat Michael Duffy was being pushed further forward which gave us a lot of energy in that final third of the pitch and we defended fantastically as a team right throughout the game. We didn’t start the second half the way we had finished the first half but you have got to give credit to Falkirk a side which is up the right end of the league table a lot of respect for that because they are a good side and they still remain undefeated this season in the league.”

Lennon revealed how he felt for Bairns keeper Danny Rogers following his fumble for the equalising goal after a sterling display from the on-loan Aberdeen youngster.

The 47-year-old gaffer was also delighted with the display of his own number one David Crawford who pulled off two great saves right at the death to secure his side a share of the spoils.

He said: “Our own goalkeeper, David Crawford was claiming an assist for the goal, we will give him it, he is a players who never shy’s away and it helps his ego but he also had a couple of important saves and it was nice to see him coming and collecting balls which helped take that wee bit pressure on our defence.

“I felt sorry for Danny Rogers having made such good saves in the first half. Perhaps it was a case of him having not a lot to do for long periods which effects his concentration, he had very little to do in the second half to be fair. But he is a good quality goalkeeper and certainly showed that in his first half performance. You have to feel for goalkeepers when they make a mistake because more often than not it leads to a goal.”

The former St Mirren boss is hopeful his side's fight back at the weekend is a sign of the belief among the squad returning after a confidence-sapping start to the season.

Lennon added: “We have spoke over the past couple of weeks of having that belief, and I thought the boys showed that in abundance against a very good Falkirk team who are very much in form. I thought even at the stage when we went down to ten men and a goal down. Rhe neutral coming to the game would have thought that was game over, but we showed that unbreakable belief and fought for absolutely everything we got, so I was absolutely delighted for our group of players who got their rewards at the end of the game for it.”