IT IS advantage Airdrie in their play-off semi-final with Alloa after a well-deserved 1-0 first leg success at the Excelsior Stadium. The Diamonds sparkled throughout however they had to wait until 7 minutes into the second half to grab the lead thanks to Andy Ryan's goal.
Whilst head coach Mark Wilson will have been delighted with the performance from his team, and their one goal lead before Saturday's second meeting, he will be hoping that they do not regret failing to add to Ryan's header.
The game started in an open fashion with the hosts going close within the first 2 minutes when Iain Russell spun free at the edge however his parting shot cleared the bar.
The visitors gave notice of their attacking threat straight afterwards with Calum Waters rampaging forward on the left. Airdrie goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson used his legs to block the full back's drive with that effort being Alloa's only one of target on the night.
The Diamonds' top goalscorer Ryan robbed Graeme Holmes 30 yards from goal with 14 minutes gone and his low effort looked net-bound until Neil Parry stretched out a hand to turn the ball round.
Parry excelled again 3 minutes when he turned away a well struck close range shot from Adam Brown after Kieran MacDonald had charged free on the left.
Airdrie, who had finished their league season 10 points behind the Wasps, continued to press however their former shot-stopper was proving to be a formidable barrier as he denied Ryan and Russell in quick succession.
The home fans appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty 4 minutes from the break when Ryan tumbled in the box however referee Finnie was not interested and as play raced to the other end Kevin Cawley sent in a 25 yard shot that flashed just wide.
Airdrie started the second half by creating another excellent chance when Ryan Conroy whipped in a free-kick that found Ryan however his head flick was directed straight at Parry.
The breakthrough finally came on 52 minutes when Joe Gorman released Conroy on the left and his cross found Ryan who had got above Frank McKeown to force a header home from 6 yards out.
A Conroy free-kick caused panic in the Alloa 6 yard box midway through the second half however there was no-one around in a home jersey to double their advantage.
In Airdrie's next attack visiting substitute Steven Hetherington blocked a cross from Kyle Hutton and Parry had to dart across his goalline to grab the ball before it trickled into the net.
Parry was called into action again with 16 minutes left to block a drive from Adam Brown after the youngster had darted past two static Alloa men before letting fly from the edge of the box.
Alloa looked to get back into the tie in the closing minutes however the experienced figure of Simon Mensing galvanised their rear-guard with the big stopper even using his backside to block a late drive from Stefan McCluskey.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here