Wasps stung by late, late Staggies winner
Ross County co-manager Steven Ferguson was clearly delighted as Keith Watson’s late strike earned all three points for his side.
“Alloa worked hard to contain us today and for most of the match succeeded and we want to give them credit for the quality of their defending,” he said.
“We were delighted to get the last-minute goal and we believe that it was a goal our play deserved.
“We’re relieved that we took the three points while we were expecting to get away with a point and we will continue to play the way that we do to maintain our league position.”
From the start, Ross County had the home side pinned back and came close to getting an opener in the fourth minute when Billy McKay connected with a Declan McManus corner, but his strong header from close range went just over the bar with Neil Parry in the home goal well beaten.
The relentless pressure from the visitors pushed the home side into making unforced errors and Ross County capitalised on one of the mistakes when, following a poor Dario Zanatta clearance, the ball fell at the feet of Billy McKay.
He crossed the ball into the Alloa penalty area where Declan McManus was in the clear to fire a fierce shot towards goal, only to see Neil Parry pull of a great save and deny him the opener.
Alloa fought their way back into the match when, from the edge of the visitor’s box, Kevin Cawley connected
with a Flannigan free-kick, but his shot was cleared by Declan McManus.
Ross County were dominating the play but only to the edge of the home side penalty box and were unable to convert their dominance into goals.
McKay came close when he was on hand to capitalize on a defensive mistake by Dario Zannata and, from the edge of the box, his well-struck shot went just wide.
Outstanding play from Cawley saw him take on and beat two Ross County defenders and his cross was touched on by Alan Trouten towards Greig Spence.
But Spence was a yard short of getting a connection with the ball and the ball went out of play.
The visitors were relentless in the pressure they were exerting on the home side’s defense and, when Josh Mullin saw his shot brilliantly saved by Neil Parry,
the visiting fans were wondering what they needed to do to get a breakthrough.
It was just another of the five or six decent chances that the Staggies had failed to convert.
Both sides made substitutions to freshen up their sides, with Alloa changing their strike force of Spence and Trouten and the visitors replacing McManus and Watson.
It was the visitors who got the goal that they had richly deserved when, in the closing minute of the game, from a Josh Mullin cross, Keith Watson outjumped the tired Alloa defence and nodded home past Neil Parry to take the three points.
The home side had given their all, defending the point they were hopeful of getting from the match.
After the game, Wasps manager Jim Goodwin was disappointed with the outcome of the match.
He said: “We have no arguments with the result.
“Ross County were a better side than we were on the day.
“Neil Parry, along with the back four, were outstanding and kept us in the game, but County were worthy of their victory.”