ALLOA could bemoan only the 2-1 scoreline as they delivered another solid performance against in-form Montrose.

The Wasps braved the terrible conditions as they travelled to Angus, hot off the heels of a top performance against Edinburgh the week before.

Brian Rice named an unchanged starting 11 against Montrose, with new signings Ally Roy and Bobby Wales starting up top again.

Montrose took the lead just before half time through Blair Lyons, capitalising on a moment of hesitation from Alloa’s defence to allow him to fire past Ogayi.

The Wasps quickly got themselves back into the match, with Ally Roy scoring the equaliser with a cool, composed strike for what was his second goal in two games for the club.

Alloa had two stonewall penalty appeals waived away by the referee following two counts of handball by Montrose before being dealt a cruel blow as Paul Watson clipped the ball under Ogayi to give the home side the lead as the match drew to a close.

While disappointed with the result, Rice lauded Alloa for putting in their strongest performance all season.

He told Advertiser Sport: “It was the best we’ve played this season by a distance, by a mile this is the best we’ve played.

“Sometimes your performances don’t get you what you deserve out of the match and on Saturday, we had total control of the game, we were creating chances and playing really good football.

“We switched off right at the very end and we lose a poor goal from a set piece but overall, the performance against Edinburgh was good but the performance against Montrose was exceptional.

“The way we played was so pleasing and it was so disappointing for the boys that they didn’t take anything out of the game which was really unfortunate.”

Last week, Rice hailed strong signs of progression in the performance that Alloa put in after Edinburgh.

This week, the Wasps built on that to deliver an exceptional showing to rival Montrose, who currently sit in third place behind Falkirk and Hamilton.

While the result comes as a disappointment for the team, Rice was full of praise for his team and their performance.

“It’s a tight league," Rice added. “Most of the games we’ve lost, we’ve only lost by one goal but I took great heart from the performance on Saturday.

“I did the week before as well, but on Saturday even more so. We had boys starting to gel together, two new strikers coming in and giving us a different dimension and way of playing.

“We’ve got boys coming off the bench and the performance was just exceptional. It was right up there with what we’re looking for.

“On another day, with a wee bit of luck and a couple decisions coming our way, then we could’ve walked away with the three points.”

Alistair Roy scored his second goal for the club, netting his first against Edinburgh the week before in his debut appearance for Alloa.

The on-loan striker has settled in nicely with the Wasps, showing good link play with strike partner Bobby Wales.

Rice said: “He’s scored two in two but it’s not just about his goals. His link play with Bobby is really good and with young Taylor [Steven] in behind him.

“Ally had a few efforts on goal on Saturday and that’s exactly what you want from your striker and he scored a really good goal.

“He took a heavy knock midway through the first half and he played as long as he could. It was an enforced sub when we took him off.

“He’s given us something different like I’ve said and he’s taken his two goals well for us so far so long may that continue.”

Alloa now have a week off from league duty due to the international break.

“We’ll train as normal. We’ve got a bounce game set up to give the lads that have not been playing game time and to keep us playing because we’re playing really well.

“I’ve been in the game long enough, I know it’s results that people look at but I’m a great believer in performances get you results.

“Over the course of time, performances will get you results. Sometimes you go through spells where things aren’t falling for us.

“We’re getting a couple of decisions that we were quite aggrieved about. You’ll probably never get a clearer stonewall penalty for handball but these things happen.

“We just need to get on with it, dust ourselves down and keep doing what we’re doing because it’ll turn.

“There is no doubt that it will turn if we keep doing what we’re doing. The boys are absolutely shattered that they didn’t get anything out of Saturday because they knew just how well they had played.

“Fair play to their manager Stewart Petrie as well, he was very complimentary about the way we played.”

Next up for Alloa is a visit from Kelty on October 21.