JOB done – The mission was simple: qualify for the next round. By all accounts it was a good night for Alloa on Friday.

In front of a crowd of 1,403 at Broadwood, the Wasps faced Open Goal Broomhill FC, the side taken over by popular podcast Open Goal and managed by former Peterhead player Simon Ferry.

After the 4-3 defeat to FC Edinburgh the week before, Brian Rice made a few changes to his side. Kevin Cawley and Daniel Church returned to the starting line-up either side of centre backs Scott Taggart and Andy Graham. Jay Hogarth took the place of Willie Muir.

Adam King and Bradley Rodden were also handed starts, with Murray Miller, Stefan Scougall, Luke Donnelly and Conor Sammon making up the rest of the team.

The first chance of the match fell Rodden’s way. A brilliant delivery by Church found Rodden unmarked at the back post but his header went wide of the post. Less than three minutes on the clock and Alloa should have been ahead.

As the first half continued Alloa were in control of the match without making their domination count. King, Scougall and Miller all enjoyed passing the ball around while a couple of good crosses were either just too high for Sammon or couldn’t quite be controlled by Donnelly.

A lovely through ball over the top from Scougall was raced onto by Rodden and his effort forced David Wilson into the first save of the match.

On the half hour mark the deadlock was broken. Church, positive once again, skipped past his man and delivered a wonderful cross which Donnelly glanced past Wilson to put the Wasps in front.

With the goal advantage Alloa flexed their muscles and continued to dominate possession. Sammon showed a lovely bit of footwork to nutmeg his man before firing a decent effort to the far post that Wilson managed to palm away.

Donnelly would be next to test Wilson. A brilliant delivery by King found the striker but he could only head the ball high into the air. Somehow he was able to hold off his man and poke an effort at goal that was awkward for Wilson but he managed to tip it over.

After the interval it was the hosts who came out fastest. Broque Watson was given far too much space to cut inside from the left wing and he spread the play to David Grant who crossed. The cross was almost met by Jamie Semple but Graham was on hand to block the effort.

Aiden McLaughlin would be next to try his luck, firing a long range effort over the bar.

Ten minutes into the second half saw the introduction of Ross MacIver for Rodden and his first involvement was almost an assist. A terrific run by Church saw him cover the entire length of the pitch before laying the ball to MacIver. His cross wasn’t brilliant but it found King at the back post. Unfortunately, his half volley lacked composure and he blasted it well over the bar.

MacIver’s physical attributes caused problems for OG Broomhill’s defence. A long ball forward was headed on by MacIver and then he had the strength to get away from both Kirk Broadfoot and Alan Cook. However, just as it looked like he might pull the trigger Cook made a brilliant interception to prod the ball back to Wilson.

As the half continued the hosts began to cause Alloa some issues. A lovely touch by McLaughlin took him past his man and into the box. Instead of shooting he cut it back for Semple who got a shot away but Craig Howie was there to block the effort with a tremendous bit of defensive covering.

From the resulting corner, OG Broomhill equalised. Broadfoot got the best of Graham and, with some part of his body, done enough to get it past Hogarth.

The hosts then had another marvellous chance with McLaughlin’s clever through ball finding Alex McCaw’s run but his drilled ball across goal wasn’t met by anyone willing to take the gamble.

With time running out and penalties seeming inevitable, Alloa retook the lead. A floated Howie cross was met by MacIver and he headed back into the path of King. The midfielder’s touch wasn’t great and was intercepted by Broadfoot. However, the referee decided he used his arm and a penalty kick was awarded.

King took the ball and placed it on the spot but Taggart had other ideas. The defender took responsibility and powerfully side-footed the ball past Wilson who got close but not close enough.

Job done, their place in the fourth round secured. Alloa will face Falkirk on January 21 after Hogmanay.

Next up is a return to league duty with a trip to Montrose and Rice will surely be looking to use the momentum from Friday to build another good run of results.

ALLOA: Hogarth, Cawley, Graham, Taggart, Church, Miller, Scougall (Howie), King, Rodden (MacIver), Donnelly, Sammon (Buchanan). UNUSED: Muir, Robertson, McLaren, Rankin.