Lichties striker stunned after Wasps fight back to win thriller

ALLOA3 ARBROATH 2

Ryan Wallace was left stunned by Arbroath’s defeat at the Indodrill Stadium after they threw away a 2-0 lead.

The striker scored the second in the 21st minute for his seventh goal in Lichties colours.

But any celebrations were turned upside down as Alloa took full advantage of the Arbroath defence to leapfrog their rivals into third place.

Now Wallace and his teammates want to put that right when they face title-chasing Raith Rovers at Gayfield this coming weekend.

“At 2-0 I think we were comfortable but then we give away sloppy goals again, “said Wallace.

“The gaffer wasn’t very happy, I don’t think any of the boys were very happy after losing the three goals in the manner that we did.

“It’s pretty frustrating but it’s happened now and you cannot really do much about it.

“We just have to dust ourselves off, look forward to our next game against Raith Rovers and try and make it right. It doesn’t come any bigger. They are challenging for the title, we are trying to get into the play-offs so there is a lot on the line. We just need to concentrate on ourselves and win games between now and the end of the season.

“That’s what it’s all about, getting ourselves secured in there as quick as possible.”

Once again both teams produced a feast of goals. Alloa won the previous meeting 5-3 and with the five served up on Saturday, that’s 13 in the last two encounters.

For Arbroath it proved decidedly unlucky.

Yet they got off to the best possible start when Michael McKenna fired them into the lead on the 20th minute and within the space of 60 seconds it was 2-0 thanks to Wallace’s strike.

It wasn’t over, however, not by a long shot. Callum Smith pulled one back four minutes later with a looping header and the comeback continued as Jordan Kirkpatrick pounced a few minutes before the interval

Kirkpatrick completed his double in the 76th minute to leave the Lichties fans in a state of shock.

“I think a draw would have been a fair enough result,” said boss Dick Campbell.

“All credit to Alloa but I’m just angry with our mentality. It was a good enough game and both teams played with the right spirit.”