Written by John - OTR Saturday, 11 April 1998 00:00

I made the trip to Alloa on my own as Jim The Hippy pulled out at the last minute. Wedding arrangements apparently. Aye, poor excuse. After a solitary pint in Tree Tops I made my way to Recreation Park in a bit of pain as my feet were killing me after my morning traipse round Edinburgh. And I thought I'd managed to break in my new Doc Martens. Obviously not.

The game started brightly enough. The sun was shining and Dumbarton were playing well. Billy Melvin showed some delightful skill on several occasions including a solo run from the centre circle ending in a shot over the bar and a rasper which the Alloa keeper did well to hold. All was not rosy though. Colin McKinnon was playing in a noticeably deeper role and it didn't suit him. He didn't seem to be aware of or talk to his team mates and gave the ball away too easily. Davie Reid was doing the same. He made some superb runs down the right wing but he just wasn't able to get the ball in the air when trying to cross.

Alloa didn't look too hot for the team at the top of the table. They had a goal disallowed after one of their big lanky centre forwards pushed Jim Meechan before heading into the net and they hit the bar but that was it for the first half.

The second half was different. Firstly, that well known Dumbarton fan and writer, Jim McAllister, took over as the near-side linesman, which is the first time I've ever seen something like that happen. Secondly, Dumbarton totally lost their first half form. The midfield couldn't get going at all and hardly a chance was created until it was almost too late.

Alloa's first goal was the result of a defensive mix up. A long high ball was put in. Jack went up for it and headed it back to where he thought Lee Sharp was. But Sharp had moved up and the ball fell into empty space. An Alloa player picked it up, squared it and it was blasted into the net by McKechnie.

Two minutes later, Gow brought down Irvine in the box. It seemed clear cut to me. Irvine sent Barnes to wrong way make it 2-0. Alloa seemed happy with that scoreline and it wasn't until the last five minutes that Dumbarton got their finger out and did some proper attacking. A long ball saw Mooney beat the offside trap and bear down on goal. But he hit his shot to close to the Alloa keeper. Grace was guilty of the same offence a minute later.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Alloa scored their third in the 87th minute after a comedy of errors in the Dumbarton box. The ball was cleared off the line twice before Haddow finally but it into the net.

A Jekyll and Hide performance by Dumbarton. In the first half there was nothing between the teams. In the second Dumbarton fell back to the appalling football that has seen us sink to bottom of the league.

Wallace Must Go.