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Rory McAllister’s hat-trick secured a victory that sent us to the top of cinch League One for the first time this term.

Alloa, however, deserve huge credit for the way they made us work for the three points after having a player sent off… with just 25 seconds on the clock!

Mohamed Niang was the one who got his marching orders, for a reckless tackle on Shay Logan, before many of the 554 fans inside the Indodrill Stadium had time to settle in their seats.

It’s not quite a record for the top leagues in Scotland, that belongs to Nigel Pepper, who was sent off after just 17 seconds playing for Aberdeen against Hearts.

It won’t have been on the game plan of Wasps boss Barry Ferguson though, so he will have taken comfort from the way his remaining 10 players battled to keep things alive right up until the latter stages.

The result might well have been different had Stuart McKenzie not made the best save of the day, just before the interval – and Alloa sub Kevin Cawley had scored instead of rattling the woodwork, when the sides were locked at 1-1.

There’s no doubt the better side won though, with our lads rewarded for showing a combination of patience and persistence to eventually win what was our first ever league meeting with The Wasps.

The star man – of course – was veteran striker McAllister, who brought his tally for the season to nine with a well taken treble.

We showed three changes from the previous game, with Finlay Robertson, coming in for his first start, joined by Blair Yule and Robbie Leitch.

Neither of them had touched the ball before Niang saw red for a rough and late tackle on Logan right by the touch line, in front of the Cove dugout.

Some referees, given how early in the game it was, may have chosen to only book the Alloa man, but Alan Muir clearly had no doubts because he immediately flashed his red card to Niang.

Logan, thankfully, was able to continue after treatment to the injury he suffered… and he would go on to play a key part in our win.

In fairness to Alloa’s 10 men, they remained organised and they restricted the amount of chances we were able to create in the remainder of the first 45, despite the fact we were camped almost constantly in their half of the field.

Mitch Megginson wasn’t too far off the mark with a low shot, from the edge of the area, as the tone was set after two minutes.

Leitch and Megginson then combined to set Harry Milne up for a drive that went across the face of the Alloa goal and wide.

Despite regularly switching the ball from one side to the other, we were finding it hard to pick out gaps in the well drilled Alloa rearguard.

Iain Vigurs had a go when he took a quick free-kick, in the 14th minute, and found Megginson, but his shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Logan then found space wide on the right to fire over a magnificent cross that just evaded Megginson and Rory McAllister before the ball was knocked behind for another corner.

McAllister tried his luck with a 35-yard free-kick, in the 33rd minute, but the ball sped just over the Alloa crossbar.

Our best chance of the half came in the 38th minute, when Megginson exchanged passes with Robertson as he advanced into the area and then saw his shot held by home keeper David Hutton.

Vigurs then picked out Yule with a cross and his 12-yard header was also held by Hutton.

Logan sent another great ball in from the right and Yule directed his eight-yard header wide of the front post as we kept up the pressure.

Alloa had to depend on hitting us on the break – and they would have taken the lead just before the interval but for a brilliant save from McKenzie.

The big keeper dived to his right to beat away a net-bound shot from Adam King, which will have given us food for thought during the interval.

McKenzie’s crucial contribution was rewarded when we finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute.

Logan got forward yet again on the right and sent a perfectly weighted cross over for McALLISTER to net at the back post with a diving header, from inside the six-yard box.

It’s the second game in a row that a Logan cross has led to us scoring a vital goal.

Robertson and Logan were then both well off target with long range efforts as we looked to increase our advantage.

Alloa dug in though and drew level in the 74th minute, from a corner that had been needlessly conceded by us.

Stefan Scougall swept the ball over from the right and Steven BOYD appeared to be the one who bundled the ball over the line from close range.

Jamie Masson, who had come off the bench just before Alloa scored, missed a great chance to put us back into the lead in the 78th minute.

Scott Ross found the midfielder with a fine cross from the right to Masson, who was totally unmarked but could only steer his eight-yard header wide of the target.

Alloa really gave us a scare in the 82nd minute, when Cawley lashed a tremendous 18-yard shot off the face of McKenzie’s right post.

That inspired the perfect response from our lads, because we made it 2-1 within a minute.

Milne played the ball down the left to Masson, and he hit the byline before crossing for McALLISTER to score from a yard out.

The victory was sealed when we were awarded a penalty in the 87th minute, after Craig Howie hauled down Megginson, just inside the home area.

McALLISTER underlined why his team-mates have given him the nickname ‘Penaldo’ by calmly slotting home his fifth spot-kick of the season.

The goal also meant McAllister is now the joint top scorer, along with Clyde’s David Goodwillie, in all four SPFL divisions.

ALLOA ATHLETIC: Hutton, Mendy, Durnham, Taggart, Church (Robertson 65), Gilmour, King (Howie 65), Niang, Scougall, Sammon Cawley 56), Boyd.

Subs: Burt, Lamont, Graham, O’Donnell.

COVE RANGERS: McKenzie, Neill, Milne, Ross, Yule (McIntosh 80), Megginson, McAllister, Vigurs, Robertson (Fyvie 70), Leitch (Masson 70),  Logan.

Subs: Scully, Strachan, Adeyemo, Gourlay.

Referee: Alan Muir.

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