PLENTY of positives can be taken from Alloa Athletic’s Women’s team’s first competitive match despite the game ending in defeat.

The team stepped out onto the Indodrill Stadium on Sunday, April 3 for the first ever competitive match in the Scottish Women’s Football League North/East campaign, losing 6-0 to Dryburgh Athletic.

The result leaves the team eighth in the league, but manager Allan Salvona insists there is plenty to be optimistic about.

Speaking to the Advertiser, he said: “It was good, it was really, really good. The club made things really easy, from the preparation to the facilities.

“We felt very much a part of the club. What [else] was nice was our captain received a text from one of the opposition players to say how nice the set up was at Alloa.

“It started off really positively, there was a good buzz about the place. Preparation wise we felt we were in a really good place, girls have been working really, really hard in training.”

Salvona continued: “The game itself, we were 3-0 down at half time but I think, on reflection, we played the better football. We’ve worked hard on trying to play it out wide, go from one side to the other and I thought that was evident at times. We just couldn’t penetrate their defence and when we did the final ball let us down a little bit.

“At half time we felt we could turn it around. We made a few changes to get some creative players further up the field but in doing so it took them out of stronger positions in defence. In the second half, much like the first, we just didn’t penetrate enough and they ran out winners in the back of it.”

Despite the heavy scoreline, Salvona reaffirmed his belief that there is a bright future ahead of this club.

He said: “There were elements of it that were disappointing, we lost a lot of goals through the central area. We dealt with their attacks up the wing very well so it was disappointing to lose goals through the middle of the pitch.

“There was still an awful lot of positives to take from the game, probably more positives than negatives.

“We’ve started a process, we’ve started a journey and we’re only at the very start of it. We’ll take the lessons from it.

“For me, the expectation was that we were going to go and win, and that’s the expectation for every game.

“With that being said, it is a brand new team, it’s only the third game they’ve played as a team. I thought throughout the first half, if you were brand new into it, you wouldn’t have looked at Alloa and thought they were the new team. Some of the football we played was really good.

“You never want to get beat but there was a lot of positives. It’s just a case of onwards and upwards.”

Salvona’s thoughts were echoed by Jade Ferguson, one of the team’s first signings, who was clearly disappointed with the result but feels it will benefit the team in the long run.

She said: “The girls are great. It’s a young squad and a lot of the players probably haven’t played on a park that size.

“It’s going to take time to gel, that was our first competitive game together. There are positives to take. It gives us a platform to work on.”

On captaining the side, Ferguson said: “It’s an honour to be given the captain’s armband. Whether I’m the captain or not I’m always going to give 100 per cent in matches and in training.

“It was good to have my family there: my dad, my husband and wee girl were there.

“The score was disappointing but to have my family there watching me wearing that armband [and] captaining Alloa Women’s first ever game was an honour.”

Alloa Women’s next game is away to Stonehaven on Sunday, April 17 in a 12pm kick off. They’ll then host Dunfermline Athletic at the Indodrill Stadium on Sunday, April 24.