JIM GOODWIN bemoaned the decision not to award his side a penalty as Alloa were put to the sword by Morton on Saturday.

A double from Chris Millar inflicted a second straight defeat on the Wasps in an evenly matched contest at the Indodrill Stadium.

But, Goodwin could not hide his surprise when Rory McKeown bundled Greig Spence over in the box in the early stages of the second half and referee Alan Newlands failed to point to the spot.

The 36-year-old said: “It looks a stonewaller from where I am and that’s at 1-0.

“I just don’t understand how the linesman, who’s on the same side as me, and the referee, who has a good view of it, don’t see it.

“Greig is in front of the defender, and the defender has clearly barged into the back of him.

“I just don’t understand how it’s not given. If that’s given at 1-0, then hopefully we go and convert it and it’s 1-1 and it’s game on again.

“Those are the decisions that you need the referee to be brave enough to give. It’s very easy to give fouls around the box and in the middle of the pitch.

“But the big decisions, they are the ones they are paid to make and unfortunately I think they got that one wrong.”

Alloa were left to rue a number of missed chances, with Morton keeper Ryan Scully called into action by Jake Hastie to preserve his side’s clean sheet.

And Goodwin admitted the result was a tough one to take, having seen his side turn the screw in the second half.

He continued: “I thought, particularly in the second half, we were patient on the ball and moving it from side-to-side.

“We got in behind them on a number of occasions, and Jake had the better of the full-back, getting behind him four or five times.

“Maybe we are just lacking the final ball. We definitely didn’t work the goalkeeper enough.

“It was difficult, Morton dropped off in the second half and were pretty much playing with ten men behind the ball. We were trying our best to break them down, but unfortunately just couldn’t find a way through.”

The match was the second in a row where Alloa were dealt a killer blow, following Ross County’s 88th minute winner in the Championship opener.

But, Goodwin insisted the side had shown enough in the two games to suggest they were not going to be the pushovers everybody expects.

He added: “The first goal in this league is very important, particularly between two teams like ourselves and Morton where there’s not a great deal between the teams.

“Both goals are disappointing from our point of view. The first, I felt we could have defended a lot better. Millar gets his way into the box way too easily.

“The second is a 30-yard strike into the top corner, and you can’t do a great deal about that.

“But, at the moment, it is just very frustrating and I think we should have had at least a point from this game.”