ALLOA ATHLETIC WOMEN fought to the final whistle during a tough battle against Grampian in the Scottish Cup.

The team made the journey to Aberdeen to take on Grampian, in an eventual 4-2 defeat for the Wasps.

Skipper Abbie Trotter gave the girls an early lead, which was quickly cancelled out by Grampian.

Amy Cully hit the target next to restore their lead just after the half hour mark, but Grampian responded again just before the half was up.

The second half was hard fought, with both sides having chances to go on and win the game. In the end, Grampian managed to make the breakthrough, scoring their third with five minutes left on the clock.

Alloa gave it everything they had and threw everyone forward to try to find an equaliser. The home side scored one last goal in the dying embers of the match to end the game 4-2.

Wasps gaffer Charles Dignan praised the women for fighting to the very end, saying there were a lot of promising signs on show.

He said: “It was a good, hard-fought battle against a good side. We always knew it was going to be a tough battle against a good side and it was.

“The first half was a good watch for the fans, four goals and 2-2 at half time. Both teams had opportunities to score more so it was definitely end to end.

“Second half again both teams have chances to score, we could go 3-2 or they could go 3-2 and they eventually did.

“With five minutes left, we have to just throw everything at it, but with that comes the risk of leaving yourself open, but whether we got beat 3-2 or 4-2, we gave it our all and went for it in the last five minutes.

“It definitely wasn’t a 4-2 game, it could’ve went either but we got caught out going for broke.

“I was pleased with the application against a good side, we were good on the day. It’s just one of those games, we move on."

Dignan in particular highlighted his side’s improvement on hitting the ground running as soon as the first whistle blows.

This is something he had earmarked in previous fixtures as needing worked on, with the girls giving it their all from minute one.

He added: “From minute one, we were aggressive, we were getting the ball down, trying to do the right things.

“The girls have definitely taken everything on board and last week we showed that as well, and this week we definitely weren’t shy.

“I’m really excited for Dunipace, really looking forward to getting back into training and getting the girls going.

“This is definitely the test that we want to see exactly where we are. The team is looking forward to it as well, we’re all up for it."

Alloa Athletic Women’s team return to league action this Sunday, September 17, and will host Dunipace FC at the Indodrill.