Scottish Cup

Alloa Athletic...2

Dunfermline Athletic...3

ALLOA crashed out of the Scottish Cup at the hands of Dunfermline on Saturday despite a spirited late fightback at the Indodrill Stadium.

Nicky Clark and Paul McMullan had the visitors sitting pretty with a two-goal advantage at the interval before Joe Cardle added a superb third.

And despite Stefan McCluskey netting with his first touch for the club, and a late strike from Greig Spence, that was enough to end the Wasps’ Scottish Cup dream.

McCluskey had to be content with a place on the bench in his first game since arriving in the Wee County, but Frank McKeown made his first start having played the final few minutes against Peterhead last week, while Graeme Holmes replaced the injured Jon Robertson.

The Wasps started fairly brightly and Jordan Kirkpatrick forced Sean Murdoch into action with a low shot from the edge of the box, before Kevin Cawley, making his 200th Alloa appearance, blazed wide after arriving late to meet Iain Flannigan’s cross.

There was a flashpoint before the game was ten minutes old. Steven Hetherington thundered into a late challenge on Kallum Higginbotham, who reacted angrily. Players from both sides got involved but the referee was content to issue the two main protagonists with a yellow card apiece for their trouble.

Just moments after that, the deadlock was broken. Gavin Reilly’s initial effort was well-saved by Neil Parry but the ball broke to Clark on the edge of the box, and the big keeper was powerless to prevent the former Rangers striker sweeping the ball home to open the scoring.

Clark was enjoying great service from his team-mates and had a number of chances to add to his tally, but he was denied by a combination of poor finishing and good defending, before Lewis Martin blasted an effort wildly over the bar when he had time and space to pick his spot.

Alloa were still very much in the game and Cawley very nearly levelled the scores, drilling a shot towards the bottom corner which Murdoch had to deal with sharply.

McKeown had a golden opportunity to open his account for the club but he sliced a volley over the bar after it had broken to him from Calum Waters’ corner, and the Wasps were immediately made to pay for their profligacy two minutes before the interval.

There didn’t seem to be too much on when McMullan picked up the ball on the left, but he cut inside and swung in a cross which evaded everybody, beating Parry at his far post and giving the away team a comfortable advantage going into the second half.

Alloa pressed hard in the opening stages of the second half but on the hour mark, the Pars added a third. Substitute Joe Cardle raced onto Clark’s perfectly-weighted pass and clipped the ball beyond Parry and into the top corner to all but seal his side’s place in the fifth round.

There was a glimmer of hope for the Wasps seven minutes later, however, when McCluskey, on for his debut a matter of seconds earlier, met Cawley’s cross at the back post to score with his first touch in an Alloa jersey.

That sparked the hosts into life and McCluskey almost had a second moments later, just failing to direct Scott Taggart’s delivery on target, before Kirkpatrick robbed Martin and made inroads towards the Dunfermline box, but nobody in black and gold was able to get on the end of his ball in.

The Pars were still a force going forward and Michael Moffatt drew a stunning save from Parry. The striker thought he had added his side’s fourth late on, but he was denied by the linesman’s flag.

In the dying seconds of the game Spence gave Alloa a chance when he pulled another goal back. His initial effort was well saved by Murdoch, but the rebound fell kindly for the forward and he rolled the ball home from close range to further reduce the deficit.

However, there was only time for Parry to excel once more, denying Moffatt with another terrific save, before the full-time whistle signalled the end of Alloa’s Scottish Cup journey for another season.

Alloa Athletic: Parry, Taggart, Waters, McKeown, Graham, Holmes, Cawley, Hetherington (McCluskey), Spence, Kirkpatrick, Flannigan (Longworth). Subs not used: McDowall, Marr, Hoggan, Martin, Goodwin.