Dumbarton.....................0 (1)

Alloa Athletic................2 (2)

Scottish Championship playoff final

ALLOA clinched promotion back to the Championship in the most dramatic fashion with a stunning playoff victory over Dumbarton.

Trailing from the first leg, the tie looked beyond the Wasps as the game entered stoppage time.

But Ross Stewart’s goal in the 93rd minute saved their promotion bid, and five minutes into extra time Jordan Kirkpatrick’s wonderful goal against his former side sent the Wee County side back to the second tier.

The big news ahead of kick-off was that Kirkpatrick and Andy Graham had both recovered from knocks picked up in last Wednesday’s first leg, meaning they were passed fit to play.

That meant Jim Goodwin named an unchanged team from the side which was narrowly beaten at the Indodrill Stadium.

The Wasps started ferociously and from kick-off, Stewart stung the palms of Scott Gallacher, with Kirkpatrick failing to tuck home the rebound.

Alloa continued to have the upper hand and Graham headed wide with a quarter of an hour played.

Stuart Carswell’s first-leg strike was all that separated the sides, but he almost found the net again when he dispossessed Jon Robertson in the Alloa half, only to drag his shot wide.

Not much was going right for the visitors and their bad luck continued when Robertson picked up a knock, with Callum Smith coming on in his place.

But the visitors continued to dominate and Kirkpatrick wasn’t far away with a low first-time drive from the edge of the box which flashed just wide of the target.

Dumbarton remained a threat going forward and Andy Stirling should have done better when he got on the end of Dougie Hill’s knock-down, volleying well over when he should have hit the target.

Kevin Cawley was causing real problems for the Sons defence and almost found a route to goal when he beat his man and darted into the box, but his shot was from a tight angle and Gallacher was able to hold it.

Tom Walsh had been a threat throughout the first leg and was having another good game, forcing Neil Parry into a decent save low to his left.

The Wasps could have fallen behind five minutes before the break, but Parry made a quite remarkable save to keep out Kevin Nisbet’s header, and the keeper was alert again moments later to deny Calum Gallagher.

And the pressure continued as the home side enjoyed their best spell of the game, Dougie Hill heading over against his former club seconds before the break.

The early stages of the second half followed much the same pattern as the first, with the Wasps throwing everything forward in search of the goal which would level the tie. Scott Taggart was next to test Gallacher with a low shot which the keeper held at the second time of asking.

Stewart was proving a real handful but nothing was falling for him in the box – the striker got a toe to Graham’s knock-down but could only direct it straight at Gallacher.

The keeper was having a fine game against his former employers and was on hand again to get a fingertip to Smith’s header, before the young striker crashed a shot off the post from a tight angle.

The Dumbarton goal was coming under siege, and Kevin Cawley should have done better when Callum Crane picked him out in the box, the diminutive attacker skewing his shot wide.

Seconds later Iain Flannigan’s stinging drive sailed just over the crossbar as the Wasps continued to turn the screw.

It was a second half full of drama and intrigue with action at both ends, and Mark Stewart forced Parry into a decent save before Kirkpatrick sent a shot from distance over the crossbar.

As the game moved into stoppage time the Wasps finally got their break. After good work from Cawley the ball spun into the path of Stewart, who made no mistake as he coolly slotted past Gallacher to send the tie into extra time.

Stewart could even have clinched it moments later but he wasn’t able to get enough contact as he rose to meet Taggart’s cross.

And moments into extra time, the turnaround was complete. Kirkpatrick received the ball on the edge of the box, turned his man and fired an unstoppable shot beyond Gallacher and into the top corner, sparking chaotic scenes in the away end.

It could have been even better for the Wasps when they broke away after a Dumbarton attack, but Smith saw his shot well blocked by the Sons defence.

It was not quite a case of “job done” at that point, and Dumbarton came agonisingly close to a leveller when Mark Stewart missed Grant Gallagher’s knock-down with the goal gaping.

In the second period of extra time, Cawley had the chance to clinch promotion once and for all, but his shot was well saved by Gallacher, who got down quickly.

But the two goals proved enough for the Wasps, and the final whistle sparked scenes of jubilation among the huge travelling support as Alloa returned to the second tier of Scottish football after two seasons in League One.

ALLOA: Parry, Taggart, Crane, Graham, McCart, Fleming (Renton), Cawley, Robertson (Smith), Stewart, Kirkpatrick, Flannigan. UNUSED SUBS: Meggatt, Monaghan, Goodwin, Wilson.