A LATE penalty spelled defeat for Alloa against rivals Stirling Albion, with David McKay seeing red in the process.

The Wasps hosted the Binos in League One for the first time since 2010 – a previous outing which saw Alloa win the derby 2-1.

Alloa couldn’t replicate that result on Saturday, however, with League Two champions Stirling running the show all afternoon.

A scrappy match culminated in McKay being sent off after Dale Carrick went down as he was through on goal.

From there, Carrick made no mistake in his penalty, sending PJ Morrison the wrong way to score the only goal of the match.

Brian Rice said he was disappointed with the performance, admitting he expected much better from his players.

“Yeah, it was really disappointing,” Rice told Advertiser Sport. “We didn’t deserve anything out of the game.

“We were second best all over all afternoon. I think if we had got a point, we would’ve stolen a point.

“I’m honest enough to admit – we had too many boys not at it today. It’s a local derby, it’s the first home game of the season, I expect a lot better.

“It’s frustrating to lose the goal we lost, it’s a poor, poor goal to lose but we didn’t deserve anything.”

The game was largely quiet until a head collision involving David Devine sparked fury amongst both managers.

The Wasps had their own penalty appeal waived off after Rodden was pushed down in the box – the referee paying no attention to pleas and lets play resume.

In a card heavy game, McKay suffered a harsh straight red card after giving away the penalty, which sealed defeat for the Wasps with only ten minutes to go.

Ten man Alloa stepped up the pressure in the dying minutes, Luke Donnelly tries to get a shot away into the bottom corner, forcing a save from Blair Currie.

Rice said the mentality of his players was the let down of the day, failing to execute their game plan properly.

“It was players mentality,” Rice added. “I had prepared properly, the game plan was set, we just didn’t do it.

“It’s the million-dollar question on 5 o’clock every Saturday night – what went right? What went wrong? Too much went wrong today.

“We were second best all over today, it’s as simple as that.”

A positive from the match was the welcome return of Luke Donnelly, making his first appearance since the playoffs in May.

Scott Taggart was also given just over half an hour, building upon his minutes against Queen of the South the week before.

With McKay suspended and Josh Debayo suffering an injury earlier on in the week, Taggart could be set for a start against Kelty Hearts next week.

Rice added: “They’re back on the pitch but they’re not 100 per cent fit.

“They’re still working towards full fitness and they’ve only got so much game time in them but it’s good to get them back on the pitch.”

Alloa have the opportunity to bounce back next Saturday as they head to Fife to take on Kelty Hearts.

Kelty have recorded one win against Montrose but were defeated by Hamilton, who dropped down from the Championship this season.

Rice will be looking for a big response from his players, insisting the whole team need to give it their best shot.

“[We need to react] just the same as we always do,” Rice added. “You’ve been knocked down, what do you do? Do you lie on the canvas or do you get back up swinging?

“There’s only one for it – get back up swinging and give it your best shot.

“It’ll need to be better than it was today.”