The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
City 90 minutes away from the Championship
Elliot Ford strike sets up grandstand finish to the season which could be cappped by promotion
BRECHIN 1 ALLOA 0
The Brechin City promotion dream simply refuses to die.
After beating full-time side Raith Rovers over two legs in the semi-final, Brechin will take a 1-0 lead to Alloa’s Indodrill Stadium on Saturday for the second leg of their Championship playoff final.
A delighted Glebe Park boss Darren Dods said: “That was an excellent performance on tired legs.
“Particularly in the second half we passed the ball well. For our goal Finn Graham did superbly and Elliot Ford finished well.
“We like playing down the slope in the second half and we are always confident of scoring.
“Alloa made it very difficult for us and I think it is the first time we have beaten them at Glebe Park in about six years.
“It will be difficult at Alloa on Saturday. We didn’t play well down there on our last visit when we lost 6-1, but since then we have worked hard and our confidence has grown.
“We know what has to be done and we will give it our best shot.
“I have been in this position before in play-offs and not seen it through but we go there with confidence.”
Brechin took the field with their confidence sky-high after their penalty shoot-out triumph over Raith and on five minutes a shot from Graham was saved by keeper Neil Parry.
And City came so close to scoring a spectacular goal on 16 minutes. A Liam Watt corner broke to Ross Caldwell 25 yards out and his fierce strike was pushed away at full stretch by Parry.
The Wasps had their first shot at goal on 27 minutes when Jon Robertson fired a left-foot drive over.
They went even closer a minute later when a shot on the turn from Jordan Kirkpatrick flew narrowly wide.
On 29 minutes a Graham header from an Aaron Lynas cross was saved by Parry.
Brechin began the second half looking for the goal their play deserved and on 52 minutes Andy Jackson cut in from the right and his curling shot was saved.
Alloa were not far away two minutes later when a Calum Waters cross was met on the back post by Kevin Cawley and the ball hit Willie Dyer and went out for a corner.
Brechin took the lead on 55 minutes. Graham did superbly on the left to leave his marker for dead and his cross was turned home on the near post by Ford.
The Glebe Park men looked for more and Jackson beat two men but saw his cross hacked clear, before Liam Watt went on a solo run and his shot was saved.
The home side were agonisingly close to adding a second goal on 83 minutes. Watt swung in a corner and Paul McLean’s header bounced up and struck the crossbar.
It was Alloa’s turn to hit the woodwork two minutes later when a looping header from Andy Graham came back off the bar.
Brechin: Smith, McLean, Dyer, Fusco, Lynas, Dale, Ford, Graham, Jackson, Caldwell (Love 90), Watt. Subs, not used: Trouten, C. O’Neil, Hill, Dods, Costello, P. O’Neil.
Alloa: Parry, Taggart, Waters, McKeown, Graham, Robertson, Cawley (McCluskey 63), Hetherington (Spence 63), Mackin, Kirkpatrick, Flannigan (Martin 81). Subs, not used: Marr, Longworth, Hoggan, McDowall. Referee: Euan Anderson.
Attendance: 702.