Raith seal Alloa’s fate as Pars win

ALLOA have been relegated from the Scottish Championship after a 2-1 defeat to Raith Rovers yesterday.

The bottom side needed to win all three of their remaining games while hoping other results would go their way and, while they took the lead in the first half, they could not recover from having goalkeeper Neil Parry dismissed after the break.

Kyle Benedictus had an early chance for Raith but Jon Robertson and Stefan Scougall responded before the home side took the lead midway through the first half.

Robertson’s ball found Kevin Cawley at the back post and the midfielder tucked home to put Alloa ahead in the 23rd minute.

But it all started going wrong at the beginning of the second half as Parry brought down Gozie Ugwu in the penalty area and was sent off, with the striker converting the spot-kick.

Just five minutes later, the game had turned on its head as Regan Hendry did well down the left and set up Dylan Tait to convert from close range.

Meanwhile, Dunfermline moved into the Championship play-off places with a 3-1 victory over Queen of the South.

Goals from Kevin O’Hara, Fraser Murray and Ewan Henderson helped the Pars move above Inverness, with James Maxwell responding for the visitors.

Arbroath gave their survival hopes a huge boost with a thumping 4-0 win over Ayr. Goals from Ricky Little, Ben Williamson and Jack Hamilton had the home side 3-0 up inside half-an-hour and they never looked back as they leapfrogged their opponents and moved three points clear of the relegation play-offs.

In League One, Cove Rangers defeated league leaders Falkirk 2-0 at the Balmoral Stadium. A double from Mitch Megginson gave Paul Hartley’s side the win and they are now level on points with the Bairns at the top of the table. East Fife closed in on a play-off spot as they defeated Peterhead at Bayview. Goals from Daniel Denholm and Scott Agnew turned the game on its head after Hamish Ritchie opened the scoring for Jim McInally’s team.

Queen’s Park continued their invincible campaign in League Two with the Spiders bouncing back from two goals down before defeating Edinburgh City 3-2. There were also wins for Annan Athletic, Stirling Albion and Albion Rovers.