AIRDRIE UTD

Airdrie were the better of the two sides as Alloa basically looked like a 'mini me' version of us, but with even less flair. Scott Wilson returning to defence for his first start of the season caught the eye early on. His height and composure on the ball ensure he stands out like a sore thumb. All our best play in the first half hour seemed to come through Mark Roberts. His clever movement on and off the ball creating a variety of openings that our lesser talented players can't. His link with Gow and Varielle promised a lot, but he seemed to pick up an injury in that first half hour and his absence made the next hour of play tediously frustrating. Jerome had a couple of good chances in the first half but nothing came of it.

What was glaringly obvious again was our midfield inadequacies. Like I'm sure has been said already we are like a sandwich with no filling. At wingback we have little going forward. Apart from a couple of loose moments Willie Wilson defended reasonably but offers next to nothing going forward. His crosses are about as much use as the infamous 'punt' of the mid nineties. So bad in fact that near 38yr old Sandy Stewart played right wing for the last 10 minutes. The one goal that's been built down that right wing was on Tuesday night when Doc was out there. On the other side KB was playing well in both games defensively and some of his passing was defence splitting stuff. But late in the game when we needed width he couldn't keep up. Through the middle, Marvin had a good game when he was the fetcher and carrier. His skill is picking up loose balls and feeding 10 yard passes. Anything over that range and he's no Sanjuan. But in the right team.... Docherty had another stinker in the centre. I really only like him when he's playing at the back. Too often in midfield he tries to go on these 'bear' like charges and his infamous 'flying headbutts' that always seem to end in exasperation. Collectively they offer little or no protection to the defence. It's a real problem for Sandy to sort out without entering the transfer market again but until the problem is sorted we'll continue to have afternoons like this

The second half was not fluid at all with Gow really getting heckled as he continually misfired in the playmaker role. In fairness to him he was having an alright day till he tired in the second half but it was a couple of fouls on him by Alloa midfielder McLaughlan that led to the day's only sending off. McGowan too went off injured but in a way that settled the team a bit as Docherty moved back and Ronaldo helped steady the midfield. The real gem again though was wee Glancy. The movement of this enigmatic frontman is the perfect foil for Jerome at times and today he eventually proved to be the matchwinner. As the clocked ticked away he picked up the ball on the left side of the 18 yard box, turned a few defenders inside out, and crossed deep to the back post where Jerome leapt highest to nod home from two yards out. I'm not sure of if it was a cheer or a collective sigh of relief from the crowd but it felt good in the end.