ALLOA boss Barry Smith last night resigned in the wake of his side's 1-0 Championship defeat at Dumbarton.

The loss left the Wasps sitting second bottom of the table with just nine matches remaining and the threat of relegation hanging over the club.

It appears to have been the final straw for Smith who replaced Paul Hartley at Alloa in January last year.

However, in addition to steering Alloa to Championship safety last season, Smith also guided the club to the final of Petrofac Training Cup where they will face Livingston next month.

It was a record which clearly satisfied Mike Mulraney, Alloa's chairman, who revealed he had attempted to talk his manager out of the decision.

"Despite my best persuasive powers, the manager has decided he wants to give someone else the chance for the rest of the season," said Mulraney.

"I thought it was unnecessary but reluctantly I have to accept his decision.

"I think he has been excellent and is a fantastic manager. Hopefully I'm known as a chairman who doesn't easily dispense with my managers' services and I wish him well for the future."

Mulraney will consider his options for replacing Smith during the weekend.

For Dumbarton, meanwhile, results such as this are the rock on which they can build foundations to pull clear of the relegation zone.

It was frantic at times - the weather conditions contributed to that - and Dumbarton were pegged back for long periods in the second half, but the three points were all that mattered.

Heavy overnight rain left the match in doubt but it passed an 11am pitch inspection and the pitch stood up pretty well over the 90 minutes.

Ben Gordon had an early let-off when he appeared to pull Chris Duggan back as he homed in on goal but Andrew Dallas did not see anything untoward and waved play on. Scott Agnew tried his luck as Dumbarton sought the early breakthrough but he could not keep it down and Craig McDowall

was untroubled.

It was Alloa who should have taken the lead when the ever- dangerous Liam Buchanan raced clear and took the ball past Danny Rogers but the angle was too tight and his shot slipped

past the far post.

Dumbarton took heed of the warning and tightened up defensively after that but their creative side was not too

evident. Scott Linton saw a well-struck volley blocked by a defender and Chris Turner curled a shot narrowly wide of target but McDowall was not put under too much pressure.

The blustery wind made life difficult for both teams but it worked in Dumbarton's favour shortly before half-time. Isaac Layne out-sprinted the Dumbarton defence but Rogers managed to block his shot only to see the ball drop to Buchanan but he toiled to get it under control in the wind and Turner stepped in to clear the danger.

It proved a crucial intervention as Dumbarton took the lead just before half-time.

Fleming cracked home a penalty kick after Dylan Easton had been brought down by Kevin Cawley in the penalty area for what proved to be the decisive goal.

Alloa needed to get something back early in the second half and there was an opportunity for Layne within seconds of the restart but he lacked composure and lofted his shot high and

wide.

Alloa took a firmer grip on the game but found it difficult to get in behind the home defence.

There was always the threat of a Dumbarton break and Scott Agnew gave McDowall some cause for concern but his shot was just a few inches too high.

Dumbarton managed to somehow scramble a Ryan McCord corner clear with Layne and Buchanan seeking to take advantage in front of goal.

Alloa looked the more likely to score as the second half wore on and with Dumbarton on the ropes but the equaliser proved elusive.

Greg Rutherford came closest - Rogers somehow clawing away his late effort - and Mitch Megginson almost rolled home a second Dumbarton goal at the end, McCord produced a goal-line clearance.