ALLOA Athletic were the winners of Betfred Cup Group D after an impressive display saw them beat rivals Raith Rovers 1-0 at Stark's Park. 

Greig Spence's strike on 33 minutes was enough to see Jack Ross's men advance in the cup as group winners. 

Alloa started this crucial cup game brightly enough, but it was the hosts who had the first look at their opponent’s goal. Former Wasps loanee Kevin McHattie unleashed a stinging drive from 30 yards, but the ball whizzed just past the post inside the first sixty seconds of the match. 

Jack Ross’ side then got hold of the ball and began to carve out some opportunities of their own. Jordan Kirkpatrick and Iain Flannigan looked bright and combined to work the ball towards the Raith box. The towering Jean Yves Mvoto managed to clear, but only as far as Calum Waters on the left wing. He picked out the run of Greig Spence, but the striker’s shot was into the side netting. 

Kirkpatrick then tried his luck from long range soon after, but once again the effort was wide of the target. 

The game flip-flopped from end to end and some good play between Ross Callachan and Lewis Vaughan almost saw the former racing in on the Alloa goal, but Neil Parry was alert to get out off his line and gather the ball to thwart the threat. 

Kirkpatrick was already proving a nuisance for the hosts and he almost wriggled his way into the Raith box after good play by Jamie Longworth to feed him, but a combination of ex-Wasp Kyle Benedictus and keeper Kevin Cuthbert cleared the danger. 

Alloa were enjoying a good spell of pressure at this stage and brilliant play from Flannigan saw his burst past McHattie down the right and cutback for Spence, but Mvoto got across to make a vital block for the hosts. 

Flannigan almost undone his good early work when a needless foul on McHattie gave Raith a free kick from 25 yards Vaughan took on the shot from the set piece, but once again it was wide of the mark. 

Vaughan was proving a tricky midfielder to get hold of and causing Alloa all sorts of problems and he should have given Raith the lead on 18 minutes. He burst from midfield to find another ex-Wasp Declan McManus wide on the right, he then found Vaughan with the return pass, but the somehow he steered his shot wide of far post under pressure from Marr. 

Gary Locke’s men continued to press and McManus was soon on the offensive again trying his luck from range. Parry beat away the stinging drive, but it was only into the pass of Vaughan inside the box forcing Parry into another brave reaction save at the midfielder’s feet. 

Alloa soon regained their composure and their possession led to the opening goal on 33 minutes. A stunning through pass by Jon Robertson on the halfway line picked out the run of Spence. The striker raced past Mvoto before smashing the ball past Cuthbert into the top corner. 

The Wasps were almost in again on 41 minutes with Robertson again the provider, but this time his through pass towards Flannigan, but Benedictus got across to make a last ditch saving challenge meaning Alloa led by a single goal at the interval. 

The match continued in much the same manner after the restart with both sides taking turns to run at each other in a highly competitive midfield battle. 

Raith had began to slowly build the pressure on their visitors’ goal, but the frustration of the home crowd was evident when Callachan burst into the box well, but McManus didn’t read the through pass and Parry gathered easily. 

The home fans were soon back on side, however, as new signing Rudi Skacel made his entrance from the bench in place of Vaughan. The former Hearts star was immediately involved when he latched onto Callachan’s lay off to shoot, but Taggart got across to make a vital block. 

The hosts should have labelled the match on 64 minutes. Jason Thomson did well to get to the byline to pick out substitute Joel Coulstrain, but his goal-bound effort was brilliantly blocked by the diving Robertson. Raith were incensed that the Wasps midfielder had used his arm, but the referee waved away the protests and only awarded a corner which came to nothing. 

Rovers continued to press forward and a brilliant searching long ball by Benedictus produced the best out of Taggart who had to be alert to divert the ball away from Skacel at the back post.

There was a blow for the Wasps as influential midfielder Jim Goodwin signalled to the bench and was replaced by Graeme Holmes as he limped from the pitch. 

The Wasps had a heart-in-the-mouth moment on 85 minutes when Thomson’s deep cross into the box was dropped by Parry, but the referee came to his rescue by penalising Skacel for the foul on the keeper. 

Raith looked frustrated as they were shut out by a dogged Alloa side in the closing stages with only a number of wayward long range efforts to show for their pressure, but it was the Wasps who held on for a famous 1-0 win to top Group D with a maximum 12 points out of 12. 

Advertiser man of the match: Jon Robertson