THERE couldn’t have been a better start to the season for Alloa Athletic Women’s team as they ran out Athena Glasgow 5-0.

Two goals each from Amy Cully and Cree Connel, with captain Abbie Trotter slotting one home herself, were more than enough to guarantee three points for the Wasps.

Defensively, Alloa did well to halt any attacks from Athena, with goalkeeper Kayleigh Johnston largely untested in the first half.

Manager Allan Salvona was thrilled with the perfect start, as the girls hope to build on a successful first season.

He said: “I’m really pleased. We set the challenge for the girls to see what we could achieve in this league.

"To go and get the goals and keep a clean sheet, it’s so important. We’re delighted with how today went.”

Alloa Athletic formed their women’s side in January 2022 and played their full first season last year, finishing sixth in the North/East Women’s League.

The team joined the newly founded Biffa West League and will come up against some unfamiliar opposition, with Salvona feeling his side can use last season’s experience to their advantage.

“The girls were very good today,” he added. “Technically, they’ve come on leaps and bounds.

“Things we’ve been trying to work on in training has started to come on into the pitch today at times.

“We’ve recruited well over the break. It’s given everyone a bit of a lift to really push on. Credit to all the players today, they were all great, including the subs that came on.

“We want to be up at the top and pushing for the playoff spot and based on the performance here today, we’re only going to get stronger as the season goes on.

Next up for the Wasps is a visit from Cumbernauld Colts. This team has only recently founded and will play their second game at the Indodrill on Sunday, January 22.

Salvona is hoping his side can build from today’s game and carry confidence into next week.

“We need to take the momentum from today,” he added. “There’s still things we can be working on and we’ll need to take that into next week.

“The overall vibe is that it’s really positive so we go into that with the view that we’re going to try and take three points next week.”

ALLOA – Johnston, Preece, Williams, Stirling (Lourdes, (Hyde)), Trialist, Connel, Trialist, Trotter (C), Trialist, Dickson, Cully