| Date | Saturday, 04 April 1998 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 3 |
| Fixture/Score | Alloa Athletic 1:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Recreation Park |
| Attendance | 624 |
| Referee | Gary Mitchell |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Daily Record. Alloa Athletic 1 Ross County 1 Alloa hitman Willie Irvine was last night accused of cheating County out of a crucial win. Big stopper Billy Herd is adamant Irvine dived to earn a penalty that led to the Wasps equaliser. And Herd claimed the player himself admitted afterwards that he did dive to rescue a point for the Wasps. The Alloa hotshot ran through on goal and when down like a ton of bricks when he went past County keeper Nicky Walker. Irvine brushed himself down to take the resultant penalty and slammed home his 20th goal of the season in 71 minutes after County had gone ahead eight minutes earlier through Neil Tarrant. The draw keeps the Recreation Park side nine points in front of County, whose chances of the title now look dead and buried. But County were left fuming at Irvine. Herd said: "Willie got through after a mistake in our defence, then went round Nicky and I would say he dived because Nicky said he never touched him. "Willie admitted it to Nicky after the game and apologised. The players are not happy about it but we did have enough opportunities to win the game. "We are not giving up the title without a fight and it is certainly not over yet. "Catching Alloa will be difficult, although we can still catch Arbroath. I'm sure both sides will drop points while we will have to win every game. "It is a tall order but we have the players and the confidence to be in there challenging." County failed to beat Tom Hendrie's side for the fourth time of asking this season but both teams struggled on a muddy pitch. Alloa had the visitors on the back foot and Walker pulled off a tremendous save from a David Pew 30-yard shot in the first half. The Wasps went close again when Pew cracked the post with a header from a Paul Simpson cross minutes into the second half. But it was County who took the lead when Tarrant headed home a Gerry Farrell corner after 63 minutes--then came Irvine's controversial penalty. Wasps gaffer Hendrie is confident his side can win the remaining five games and clinch the title. He said: "The championship race is tight but we are still nine points in front of County and that should be enough for promotion as there are only 15 points to play for. "We are in a strong position to be promoted and we will now slog it out with Arbroath for the title," |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Mark Haro, 3: David Matheson, 4: William Furphy, 5: William (Billy) Herd, 6: David MacKay, 7: Steven Ferguson, 8: Gerard Farrell, 9: Wayne Addicoat, 10: Connor Campbell, 11: David Ross |
| Bench | 0: Roy McBain, 0: Derek Adams, 0: Neil Tarrant 1 1 |
| Alloa Athletic | |
| Manager | Tom Hendrie |
| Starting 11 | Mark Cairns, Lloyd Haddow, Mark Nelson, Craig Valentine, David Pew, Mark Wilson, Stuart Wilson, William Irvine 1 (1 pen), Paul Simpson, Martin Cameron, Mark Cowan |
| Bench | John McCormack, James Gilmour, Miller Mathieson |