Alloa Atlethic left frustrated after being held at home by Albion Rovers

ALLOA missed the chance to go second in League One following their goalless draw at home to Albion Rovers this afternoon.

The stubborn visitors kept the Wasps at bay to deny Jim Goodwin a win on his first home game as player-manager.

It was home side that came closest to breaking the deadlock with Jason Marr denied by the woodwork and a fine save from keeper Ross Stewart.

But despite all their possession, Alloa were unable to find the all-important breakthrough in the final third.

And though they remain in third place, a win would have saw the Wasps leapfrog Brechin City into second, with the Angus side losing 3-0 at home to league leaders Livingston.

Alloa started the brighter side with wing backs Scott Taggart and Calum Waters bombing down the flanks at will.

The Wasps won an early succession of corners but, despite some useful deliveries from Waters and Iain Flannigan, they couldn't find a route to goal.

Goodwin fired over the bar in the opening few minutes, while at the other end he was on hand to deny Ryan Wallace an effort on goal.

Alloa's Neil Parry then produced a smart save from Michael Dunlop's header before the home side upped the pace.

Albion were now really struggling to contain the marauding full backs, who were linking up well with Flannigan, Kevin Cawley and Jordan Kirkpatrick.

An excellent delivery from Waters on 16 minutes caused the visitors' backline all sorts of problems, but when the ball fell in the box neither Flannigan nor Greig Spence could get the shot away.

Rovers tried to hit Alloa on the counter attack, with Wallace clipping a tame effort wide from a tight angle on 26 minutes.

At the other end, Cawley ghosted past two Albion midfielders but couldn't find the target with his curling effort from the edge of the box.

Another Albion counter then fell to pieces as Wallace and Connor Shields failed to link up, before Alloa's Taggart passed up an excellent chance shortly before half time.

The visitors failed to clear their lines from Flannigan's free kick and the ball fell kindly for the wing back who scuffed his volleyed effort from inside the box.

The pressure on the Albion goal only increased after the break; however, keeper Stewart was on hand to deny both Andy Graham and Taggart an opening goal.

At the other end, the visitors were calling for a penalty as striker Ross Stewart went down in the box under the challenge from Cawley, but the referee swiftly waved play on.

Spence then perhaps should have made more of another excellent delivery from Taggart, but his touch let him down, giving Rovers the chance to clear.

Kirkpatrick then sent a shot wide on the hour mark before driving another effort straight at Stewart a minute later.

The keeper was then called into action shortly afterwards as Alloa came within inches of scoring.

Waters' free kick fell to Marr from 12 yards out, but he couldn't get enough of his head on the ball as it clipped the foot of the post.

The Alloa defender was quickest to react and swung his boot at the rebound only to see Stewart get a hand to the ball to keep it from crossing the line.

With 20 minutes remaining, Albion started coming into the game more and began to compete better in the middle of the park.

There was another penalty shout from the visitors as they called for a Goodwin handball, while at the other end the home support asked a similar question of the referee as Spence went down after tussling with Ross Dunlop in the box.

Jamie Longworth was then introduced in the last ten minutes and came close to his first goal for the club when he latched onto Andy Graham's knock down.

But the striker failed to connect properly, sending his effort beyond the post.

Jon Robertson then dragged his ranged effort wide before Graham saw his volley from 12 yards bobble into the keeper's gloves.

Then, right at the death, Albion came close to snatching the win but Wallace just failed to get on the end of Paul Willis' cross, with just the keeper to beat.

ALLOA: Parry, Taggart, Waters, Graham, Marr, Goodwin, Cawley, Robertson, Spence, Kirkpatrick (Longworth 81), Flannigan (man of the match. UNUSED SUBS: McDowall, Holmes, Hoggan, Donnelly, Scullion.