Ayr United............…3

Alloa Athletic….......3

Ladbrokes Scottish League One

ALLOA were on the receiving end of a late equaliser from Ayr United as two of the pre-season promotion favourites played out a thrilling draw at Somerset Park.

Lawrence Shankland’s early goal had the hosts in the driving seat, but Frank McKeown equalised before the break, and Kevin Cawley headed in a second to put the Wasps in front.

Jamie Adams equalised for the hosts, before Scott Taggart’s late penalty looked to have sent Alloa on their way.

But in the dying seconds, Shankland scored a dramatic equaliser to ensure the spoils were shared.

Alloa were coming into the game on a high in the wake of last week’s late, late show against Forfar, when it took goals in the 86th and 94th minutes for the Wasps to come back from a goal down and claim three points.

The big team news ahead of kick-off was manager Jim Goodwin’s decision to start himself in defence in place of Andy Graham, who missed out due to the shoulder injury he aggravated last week.

There was also a return for Garry Fleming, who started up front alongside Kris Renton, but youngster Adam Martin again had to settle for a place on the bench despite his manager admitting that he is finding it harder and harder to deny him a starting berth.

However, the Wasps got off to the worst possible start two minutes into the game.

Ross Docherty’s shot was deflected high into the air, Neil Parry charged out to collect but saw the ball nicked away by Michael Moffatt, and Shankland was on hand to turn it home to give the Honest Men the lead.

Alloa were almost in bother again when Declan McDaid’s testing cross proved too much for the defence to deal with, but the ball fizzed across the face of goal and narrowly wide at the far post.

Then Craig McGuffie went on a mazy run and sliced through the men in black and gold like a knife through butter, only for his touch to desert him at the crucial moment and allow Parry to smother the chance.

The visitors were not without their chances, and Cawley, the smallest man on the pitch, was unfortunate to see a header sail wide after he had risen to meet Iain Flannigan’s corner.

But it was all Ayr in the opening quarter and they should have been two ahead with 20 minutes gone. The ball was clipped in to the back post where Moffatt had somehow drifted in unnoticed, but despite the fact he was in acres of space and had all the time in the world to pick his spot, he could only head into the arms of Parry.

Shankland was proving to be a handful for the Alloa backline and he did superbly to dig the ball out of a 50-50 with Taggart out wide and cut inside onto his right foot, only to curl his shot over the crossbar.

But with ten minutes to go until the interval, and following what was up to that point their best spell of the game, the Wasps drew level in fortuitous circumstances.

A corner was headed to the edge of the box, and Jon Robertson tried his luck. His shot cannoned off a pile of bodies on the ground, and although some sources credited it as a Craig Reid own goal, McKeown was determined to claim it.

Alloa began the second half on the front foot and Cawley had another chance to add to his tally for the season, but having picked the ball up around 25 yards from goal, he dragged his shot well wide of the target.

However, the hosts still posed a threat, and Moffatt was not far away with a header which bounced just wide of Parry’s post.

And they came agonisingly close to restoring their lead ten minutes into the second half. Moffat laid the ball on a plate for McDaid, who was racing in at the back post, but as he slid in to make contact he could only divert his shot onto the crossbar.

That chance came just seconds before Parry pulled off an astonishing save to keep the scores level. Shankland sent a powerful header towards goal from point-blank range and he looked certain to have put his side back in front, but the Alloa keeper reacted superbly to keep the ball out and preserve parity.

At the other end, there was a case to be made for an Alloa penalty when Renton was pushed to the ground, before Cawley’s goalbound shot was diverted behind by Michael Rose.

But from the resulting corner, the turnaround was complete. Flannigan’s delivery was perfect and once again Cawley belied his diminutive stature to rise highest and send a looping header into the back of the net.

Ayr were almost level immediately and again it was Shankland with the chance, but Parry was having a superb game between the posts and was equal to the striker’s low shot.

A slip from Taggart almost let the home side in for an equaliser, but the defender recovered to send the ball back to Parry. The keeper in turn put the ball behind for a corner, but from that set-piece Shankland could only send the ball over the crossbar.

But soon afterwards the hosts were back on terms. McDaid’s cross eventually fell to Adams, who turned it into the far corner to draw the hosts level.

Craig Malcolm almost put the Wasps back in the driving seat when he twisted and turned his way into a shooting position, only for Hart to pull off a wonderful save.

But from the resulting corner, the visitors were handed a golden chance to get back in front. McKeown’s header cannoned off Adams’ arm and the referee pointed to the spot, to the fury of the Ayr players. Taggart stepped up and made no mistake as he rifled his spot-kick into the bottom corner.

Having scored at one end, Cawley was called into action at the other in the closing moments as he cleared the ball off the line after it had been stabbed goalwards following a scramble.

But there was nothing the Wasps could do about United’s late, late leveller. Shankland picked the ball up out wide, cut inside onto his right foot and curled a terrific shot beyond Parry and into the bottom corner.

ALLOA: Parry, Taggart, Meggatt, McKeown, Goodwin, Robertson (Martin), Cawley, Hetherington, Renton (Malcolm), Fleming (Crane), Flannigan. UNUSED SUBS: Cook, Wilson.