Lichties dominate but lose out in six-goal thriller

ALLOA 4 ARBROATH 2

Arbroath failed to capitalise on their superiority as they finished second best in a six-goal Betfred Cup thriller at Alloa last night.

The Wasps snatched the opener when Greig Spence collected the ball at the edge of the box, beat Ricky Little and side footed the ball past a helpless Darren Hill.

The home side doubled their lead 60 seconds later when Kevin Cawley collected the ball in the midfield, ran through the Arbroath defence and scored with an unstoppable shot.

The Lichties pulled one back when Ryan Wallace volleyed past Wasps keeper Neil Parry.

The fightback continued and Arbroath levelled in the most bizarre way when a horrible mistake by Parry allowed Kane Hester to take the ball from the feet of the keeper and slot it home from one yard out.

Alloa regained the lead when Alan Trouten had a second bite at goal when his first shot hit the post, rebounded into play and he was on hand to side foot home from close range.

Spence scored his second amid controversy when Trouten appeared to have handled the ball but the referee failed to see the ‘foul’ and Spence fired home from the edge of the six-yard box.

Lichties assistant boss Iain Campbell said: “We are disappointed. We started well but lost two goals and suffered from poor refereeing decisions.

“We were in control for most of the match but we will learn from this and look forward to the Elgin match.”