alloa athletic 2 Connelly (12), Trouten (28)
inverness ct 0
Alloa boss Peter Grant praised his young players last night after the Wasps eased their relegation worries by finally beating promotion-chasing Inverness at the sixth attempt this season.
With no win in five games and no home goals since January, the signs were bleak for the home side.
But on-loan Sunderland striker Lee Connelly had clearly not read the script and rounded off a fine passing move to fire them in front after only 12 minutes.
Alan Trouten, whose late equaliser salvaged a point against Caley Thistle last October, struck again in the 28th minute to give Alloa welcome breathing space, and the lacklustre visitors never looked capable of staging a second-half fightback.
“I’m delighted, especially the way we won it today with so many young boys playing for us,” smiled Grant.
“We lost a lot of top players today, but the young boys stepped up and I thought they were all exceptional.
“The thing is the whole squad supports each other so well.
“We know we can create chances and we have players who can score goals, but Inverness are a very difficult team to play against.
“We scored twice, but it was what we did when we didn’t have the ball that won us the game today.
“We have to try and keep winning games of football if we want to survive, so we’ll enjoy this and get back to work on Monday.”
Yesterday’s result pulled Grant’s team three points clear of Queen of the South in the dreaded relegation zone, while Inverness remain handily-placed in second after none of their promotion rivals were able to take maximum points yesterday.
“We’re bitterly disappointed, but I thought the better team won today,” admitted manager John Robertson.
“Alloa were hungrier and more committed than us, so I have to congratulate Peter and his team on their win.”