STAYING up or being promoted through established means in the future could be considered boring after 210 minutes where Clyde and Alloa produced 11 goals and enough high drama and excitement to prove the Scottish Football League called it right when establishing the play-off format.
Pat Clarke's strike in 111 minutes finally won the tie and Clyde manager John Brown said: "We deserved it and I always thought our fitness would kick in. We created enough chances to win the game, however nothing has been achieved yet. We have two ha
rd games against Airdrie. They are a good side with impressive forwards."
Alloa manager Allan Maitland was left devastated by defeat and sportingly said: "Congratulations to Clyde, their players showed fantastic spirit but when we scored the third goal that should have been enough."
Clyde, trailing 2-1 from the first leg, dominated early and Jimmy Gibson netted with a header after half an hour. A bizarre period starting five minutes before half-time swung the game Alloa's way, with Brown Ferguson scoring with a stunning strike when he thundered in a drive from 30 yards.
Two minutes later Alloa went two goals ahead on aggregate when Fraser Forrest bundled the ball in.
The third for Alloa came within a minute of the restart and was another disaster for the home side with slackness from Steven Masterton allowing Kyle McAulay through on goal and his effort was turned into his own net by Dusan Bestvina.
However, the half-time introduction of former Scotland man Gary McSwegan started the comeback as he played a through ball to Gary Arbuckle, who netted underneath Raymond Jellema. Billy Gibson headed in four minutes later and then McSwegan flicked in a Masterton corner to put Clyde ahead 4-3 in the game and level on aggregate.
Alloa looked dead on their feet and a brave attempt to take the match to penalties ended with Clarke's strike that was set up by McSwegan.
Brown paid tribute to the experience of McSwegan. "Most of our players would have shot but Gary just rolled it into Pat Clarke's path for a tap in," he said.
Maitland's goalkeeper Jellema summed up the visiting players' feelings, saying: "We are all gutted. I don't know if we weren't good enough or whether tiredness kicked in.
"This season has been a success and Alloa as a club have progressed."
The full article contains 409 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
