Carnoustie RFC 1st XV...23
Alloa RFC 1st XV.........48

BT Caledonia League Division 1​

ALLOA were forced into making five changes to their starting line up from the Shield winning side of the previous week for their visit to Carnoustie.

The home side were coming off the back of a heavy defeat in the same competition, but Alloa have never had it easy in previous visits to Shanwell Road and were expecting a tough challenge and that is exactly what they got for most of the match.

The opening exchanges were fairly even - Lee Cairney swapping a penalty with his opposite number during the first five minutes of play, before the Alloa pack ramped up the pressure, particularly in the scrum and the end result was a yellow card for a Carnoustie forward who prevented Alloa from taking a quick penalty.

However, the home side raised their game during their ten minute reduction in number and struck back with a further two penalty strikes.

For all that Alloa's scrum was dominant, their line-out was misfiring spectacularly, but there was no such problem for Carnoustie as they first drove a line out and then peeled for the first try of the match opening up a 16-3 lead after twenty five minutes of play.

The match was in danger of running away from the visitors at this stage and they were in need of some inspiration and immediately got it through a massive hit by Ali Edwards inside the home 22. 

The powerful Prop Forward then turned the ball over and the Alloa backs whipped the ball wide through the hands for Kris Aitken to dot down. 

Moments later, a perfectly timed pass by Colin Jess released Phil Edwards in midfield, who in turn had Alan Keir to take what was a scoring pass.

The Alloa full back still had plenty of work to do but a lovely chip over his opposite number and great pace saw him win the race for the touchdown. 

Lee Cairney's touchline conversion gave Alloa a narrow and somewhat unlikely 17-16 advantage at half time.

Some gentle half time guidance and words of encouragement from the coaches saw a different Alloa side emerge after the break. They attacked Carnoustie from all parts of Shanwell Road and the gaps appeared as Carnoustie struggled to cope with the intensity of the play. 

Lee Cairney scored in the corner and was soon followed over the line by Matt Duncan after a great break and off-load by young Liam McAuley, who was making his first outing of the season in the second row. 

With the bonus point now in the bag, Alloa were turning on the style and Graeme Ross scored after bursting off the back of a line out before Kris Aitken finished off a sweeping move from deep in their own half to complete a devastating twenty minutes of rugby and by this stage, Alloa had scored 38 unanswered points and in truth it could have been more.

Carnoustie steadied for a period and after Phil Edwards picked up a yellow card for a high tackle, the home side crossed for a second try from the subsequent penalty. 

Last word though came from a rampant Alloa when man of the match, Lee Cairney dragged over three would be tacklers for a seventh and final try. His touchline conversion crowned an outstanding second half performance from the Alloa side.

Club vice-president Jim Gove said: "Any win on the road in this division is a good one. 

"We do suffer from not being able to field the same side from week to week, however that can be said of many teams in the division. 

"We've got to be happy with September, averaging over 50 points per league match and scoring 25 tries in the three fixtures."