ALLOA ATHLETIC Women kicked off their League Cup campaign with a hard-fought draw against Harmony Row.

The Wasps headed to Govan for their opening group stage match, against a side that they were very familiar with following Harmony Row’s title winning campaign last season.

Despite a goalless draw, Alloa gaffer Charles Dignan was delighted with the girls’ performance, hailing real signs of progression in the way he wants them to play.

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, he said: “It was a great battle – Harmony Row, as we know, have won quite significantly against Alloa in previous seasons.

“It was a battle where I feel we had more chances to go on and win the game from.

“They had one great chance early on in the first minute to force a great save from Kayleigh [Johnston] but then we go on to have two or three big chances where we hit the post or get in behind.

“I’m very proud of the players for fighting a hard, tough battle – psychologically as well, going up against a team that’s done very well against us in the past.

“I’m very happy with the draw given the journey we’re on and where we are – this shows the improvements we’ve made.”

Harmony Row and Alloa competed in the same league last season, with Harmony Row going on to win the league by a steep margin.

Dignan lauded his team for standing up against tough opposition, highlighting the work they did in pre-season as pivotal to their performance.

“This is showing great signs of the work we’re doing,” Dignan added. “Harmony Row were back to back league winners and playoff finalists last season.

“That shows a benchmark just now and it does show us the progression that we’ve made after pre-season.

“Pre-season was tough for us – we had a lot of lows, with only some highs but I think that really solidifies the work we put in during pre-season and we’re starting to see the fruits of our labour just now.”

This Sunday it’s back to league action for the Wasps, who host Flip the Mindset Women at home for the first time this season.

Dignan added: “I’m really looking forward to getting back to league action this week – the league is your bread and butter, it’s how you progress.

“Every club will be eyeing up the opportunity to win the league especially those who have the capability to be promoted outwith the development teams.

“I don’t know much about Flip the Mindset, I haven’t really encountered them before and there isn’t really much to go on in terms of Alloa meeting them in previous games.

“We just have to go in, focus on ourselves and what we’ve been working on and hope that that is enough to get us over the line.”