Amazing finish to clash between Alloa and Caledonia Division One League leaders Gordonians

IN ONE of the most exciting finishes seen at Earlsfield for a number of years, this BT Shield 1st round fixture pitched Alloa, who currently sit top of Caledonia Division 2 against Gordonians, who top Caledonia Division One.
This was always going to be a tough match for the local side, but the players and management have taken a lot of confidence from their early season form and so went into this match with a belief that progressing into round two was not an unrealistic target, despite the league placings.
The opening exchanges were fairly even as both sides probed for weaknesses, but it was the visitors who opened the scoring after 15 minutes when a perfectly timed slip pass in the middle of the park allowed a Gordonian Centre to slide through the home defence for a converted score under the posts.
Moments later, the visitors stretched their lead to 10 points when they slotted over a long range penalty.
This was the cue for the Alloa Forwards to step up a gear and Michael Doig opened his sides account after a succession of pick and drives close to the visitor’s line, but the Aberdeen side quickly restored their lead when they pounced on an Alloa handling error five minutes before half time.
However, Alloa refused to press the panic button and once again the Forwards stepped up to the mark and rumbled their way over the visitor’s line, with Matt Pope emerging as the scorer to reduce the deficit to 14-17 at the interval.
The second half started with Alloa on the front foot and once again the Forwards put in the hard yards with another series of pick and drives to the heart of the Gordonians defence, which in turn provided Captain Gary Taylor with the space to squeeze his way over the try line and Lee Cairney successfully converted to put his side in front for the first time in the match.
However, this lead was short lived when the dangerous Division 1 side’s back division broke from deep in their own half and the Full Back showed an excellent turn of speed to outpace the covering home defence for a well worked score.
Then when Kris Aitken was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes the visitors capitalised with another score to increase their lead to six points and only 10 minutes remaining.
The intensity levels reached new heights for the remainder of the match and once again Alloa retook the lead with only minutes remaining, when Dale Foster burrowed his way over from short range much to the delight of the large crowd.
The question was now whether Alloa could hold on to this lead and when they secured possession from the restart they looked favourites to hold on for a famous victory, but the Aberdonians rallied and showed why they are unbeaten this season. 
They seized on a spilled ball deep in their own half and when the Full Back got his hands on the ball the signs looked ominous as he once again outpaced the Alloa defence to score a dramatic try out wide right on the full time whistle.
The Alloa side trooped off dejected, but with their heads held high after giving everything that they had and they can be rightly proud of their performance against a strong side who will undoubtedly go far in both cup and league this season.
Alloa return to league duties this weekend when they face Howe of Fife at home. 
The development side are also at home where they face Strathmore 2nd XV. Both matches are 2pm KO’s.