Dunbar 1-2: Alloa: Wasps into fourth round of Scottish Cup

The Wasps came back from behind to beat the Seasiders 2-1 with goals from Kevin Cawley and Conor Sammon securing a spot in tomorrow night’s draw.

Andy Graham made several changes to the starting lineup from last week’s defeat to Edinburgh City, with injuries and cup rules confining some players to the sidelines.

David Devine missed out through injury, with David McKay taking his place alongside Morgyn Neill in central defence in front of PJ Morrison.

Scott Taggart remained in as right back, with Cammy O’Donnell making his return from injury to slot in on the left.

Kevin Cawley made his first start since September to start in midfield with Stefan Scougall and Kurtis Roberts.

Ally Roy started up top in between Conor Sammon and Quinn Coulson on the wings.

Alloa had the first of the chances, with a bullet of a header from Morgyn Neill cleared off the line. Dunbar countered from here, with Hendry sending a golden opportunity for the hosts over the bar.

Dunbar broke the lines first, a free kick coming towards PJ Morrison, who makes a slight fumble sending the ball rolling over the line.

As soon as Dunbar took the lead, however, Alloa took control of the match, knocking the ball about and going onto test Dowie.

It didn’t take long for Alloa to find a way back into the match as Kevin Cawley heads home a pinpoint accurate cross from Taggart.

Just 15 minutes later, the Wasps took the lead over the Seasiders, with another good header from Neill finding Sammon, who tucks it away with ease.

Alloa were unfortunate not to score more in the second half, with an effort from Sammon ruled out for offside and another goal chopped off for a foul from Neill.

Similarly, PJ Morrison made a couple of good stops to deny Dunbar from getting a foothold back in the game.

“I’m delighted with that,” Andy Graham said. “Credit to Dunbar, they were excellent and they really went for it in the last 10 minutes.

“We spoke at half time about going onto get that third goal to try to kill it off – I thought we had it with Sammon’s, I’ll need to see it back.

“We knew that they’d put us under pressure in the last 10 minutes but fair play to the boys, they stood up to it and stood strong.

“At the end of the day, the objective was to get into the next round and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

The squad had been considerably rotated this week, with several key players having to drop out for a number of reasons.

Notable absences included Steven Hetherington, David Devine, Bobby Wales and Taylor Steven who all watched from the side lines.

Devine’s absence led to Graham putting his own name down on the bench in the event of an injury to the backline.

Graham continued: “A few were enforced with Steven and Wales not being eligible to play from their parent club.

“Hetherington and Devine had picked up knocks. Nothing serious but enough to keep them out of today so unfortunately I had to stand on the bench.

“Hopefully, I won’t need to go on the pitch and that proved the case today.”

Alloa will now take their places in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, with the draw being hosted live tomorrow evening from 7:15pm.

The fourth round will see teams from the Scottish Premiership enter the fold, setting up possible encounters with the giants of the competition.

Graham remarked that he will be ready for any side drawn against Alloa, insisting that big ties are what makes the cup magical.

“[I'll take] anything you’ve got,” he said. “Everyone will always say a home tie but I’ll take anything you’ve got.

“The Scottish Cup is brilliant. Coming here today was a great experience, pitch was fantastic and it’s a new ground, new venue, great crowd today.

“That’s what the Scottish Cup is all about, games like today. It’s great to get through, there’s loads of things we can improve on, we’ll work on that but the objective was to get through and we’ve done it.”

The win today also marked a personal milestone for Andy Graham as he picked up his first win as a manager.

Graham made the step up from player to manager last week as Brian Rice departed for Livingston and was delighted to earn his first win as gaffer.

“I think there was a bit of hullaballoo last week about me getting the job and there was always going to be a bit of a comedown from that.

“Football has got a way of doing that – everything seems rosy then bang, straight back down to earth.

“I thought last week we were very unfortunate to lose by the scoreline we did and then today we’ve won 2-1.

“I try not to get too high and too low, it’s about being objective and working out how we can improve as a team for the next game.”

It’s back to League One next weekend for Alloa as they welcome Annan Athletic to the Recs.