Greig Spence knows there is no room for sentiment in cup competition after putting his former club to the sword in the Betfred Cup. Alloa have raised more than a few eyebrows, and now expectations, after emerging from Group D with an unblemished record, confirming their place in the knockout rounds with a 1-0 win at Raith Rovers.
Spence contributed the only goal and Alloa are one of only three teams in the competition to have finished the group stages without dropping a point. "It was great to score on my return," he said. "I didn’t think there was much between the teams up until the goal.
"It was a great through ball from Jon Robertson and I just latched on to it and took the chance. I was given some abuse from the Raith fans behind the goal but it was just friendly banter.
"That’s what football’s all about – I had some great times when I played here. I love the format of the Betfred Cup - it's worked well for us and we’re ready now for the start of the league season."
Jim Goodwin, brought from St Mirren earlier this summer, admitted his team had to dig deep for the win.
"It wasn’t pretty at times, certainly not our best performance since I came here but I think that we showed different elements to our game," he stated.
“We showed real character and the desire to dig in for a result.
"As well as a 100 per cent record in the Betfred Cup we’ve achieved three clean sheets in four games.
"We’re now through to the next round and seeded – it's just a case now of maintaining that form and keeping the momentum going."
Alloa finished ahead of holders Ross County, whose interest in the competition ended with a 7-0 win over Cove Rangers in which Brian Graham scored a hat-trick.
Motherwell beat Stranraer 3-0 to go through as runners-up to Rangers in Group F, but manager Mark McGhee faces a striker crisis after Scott McDonald limped off at the end with a calf strain. The Australian, who scored the final goal of the game, is a doubt for the league opener at Kilmarnock, and is at the moment the only fit centre-forward at the club. Chris Cadden and Marvin Johnson got the other goals which all came in a one-sided second-half at Stair Park.
Morton won Group H with a 2-0 win over Berwick Rangers, who had Michael McKenna sent off before half-time. Jamie Lindsay and Jai Quitongo scored.
Peterhead came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Dumbarton and win the penalty shoot-out through Nicky Riley's clincher and win Group A.
St Johnstone won Group B ahead of Falkirk with a comfortable 4-0 win over Stirling Albion with Steven Anderson, Steven McLean, Liam Craig and David Wotherspoon all netting.
Falkirk’s 2-0 victory over Brechin City was hollow and Luca Gasparotto, who scored the first goal, is now focusing on the Championship where his team open against Hibs.
"It’ll be tough; we know what they are like," he said, "I think we had 80 per cent of the possession today - it will be much different [against Hibs].
"I think they will have the ball a lot and we will have to keep our shape defensively and work hard.
"We will just do our thing, play well and try and break them down as much as we can and take our chances when they come as no doubt we will get chances we will just have to finish them.
"Hopefully, we can do one better this year and get up where I think we should be. I think we have the quality and Falkirk is a big club and we should be higher than we are now.
"If we play the way we can every week I think we have a good chance. The Championship is going to be very competitive this year with Dundee United coming down. There's Hibs and St Mirren who’ve done good work over the off season and even Dunfermline coming up will be a tough test."
Scott Boden hit a hat-trick as Inverness Caledonian Thistle thumped Arbroath 7-0 in Group D and Hamilton Accies beat Livingston 2-1 to edge Group G ahead of Ayr United. Louis Longridge hit the decisive goal ten minutes after the break.
Jamie Hamill scored the only goal as Queen of the South beat Stenhousemuir 1-0 to finish second in Group E behind Partick Thistle.
Dundee beat Forfar 7-0 but could only finish third in Group A, while Annan won 2-0 at East Stirling in a dead rubber in Group F.
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