ALLOA ATHLETIC fought to the final whistle over the weekend as Conor Sammon headed in the only goal of the match to beat Kelty Hearts 1-0.

It seemed like the points would be shared between the two sides until a Luke Strachan corner met the head of Alloa’s top scorer for this season.

This was a huge win for the Wasps, leaving them sitting comfortably in fourth with three games to play.

This means Alloa will only need to win one more game in order to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, hoping to earn a spot in the Championship next season.

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, Alloa gaffer Brian Rice hailed an important three points for his side.

“It was a massive three points for us. Any three points is big, but at this point in the season, it means more.

“It was a tough game, conditions were tough, it was a dry pitch. We had a few injuries again, Taggs [Scott Taggart] had to come off early which didn’t make it any easier.

“I thought our boys controlled most of the game. We didn’t take some of our chances but we got one right at the end and we took it.

“It was a really tough three points but it was a brilliant three points especially considering some of the results for the teams around us.”

Before Saturday’s win, Alloa were just three points ahead of in form team Queen of the South in fifth and FC Edinburgh in sixth, with just one point separating these sides.

The victory in Fife sees the Wasps widen that gap, now sitting six points ahead of the Queens, which will be vital as they chase a playoff spot.

Sammon’s goal was his 16th across all competitions this season and also the third match winning goal Alloa have scored in injury time.

Rice praised his team for digging in right to the death

“We’ve not let up in the training and we’re working really hard,” Rice added. “It’s paying off, we’re going off right until the very end.

“Conor hasn’t been starting games recently but he’s been making a good impact when he’s come on.

“He played the full 90 minutes on Saturday and he got the all important goal. We know that if we put decent quality into the box, Conor has a decent chance of getting on them.

“That’s just what he did on Saturday.”

Defender Scott Taggart was forced into coming off early on in the match, being replaced by Andy Graham in the eleventh minute.

This was rare for the centre half, who is usually a constant presence in the team.

“He got a dead leg really early on,” Rice explained. “He tried to run it off and carry on but he couldn’t.

“It’s not like him. Very rarely does he get injured but he had to go off. We had a ready replacement in Andy Graham.

“Andy hasn’t played in a while but he came in a put in a really good performance in a tough game.

“We’ve scored a lot of late goals and we’ve scored a lot of important late goals. A great credit to the boys for their effort.

“They’ve got themselves in a good position. The teams around us are all full-time teams so for us to be up there is great credit to the boys.”

Alloa are in action again this Saturday as they host rivals Falkirk at the Recs. The Wasps need just one win in their next three games to secure a place in the playoffs.

Alloa’s last remaining fixtures for this season are Falkirk at home and Montrose away before hosting Dunfermline at the Recs, who were crowned League One champions following their 5-0 thrashing of Queen of the South.