Alloa 2
Peterhead 4
The Blue Toon picked up their second successive League 1 win, and their first away success of the campaign, by seeing off Alloa 4-2 at the Indodrill Stadium.
A slow start saw Jim McInally’s side fall behind to a familiar face before an excellent recovery put them 2-1 ahead, against ten men, only for the sides to go in level at the break. An excellent substitution at half-time paved the way for Peterhead to regain the lead before a late fourth goal secured the points.
The visiting Peterhead side started with a three-man central defence with Andrew McDonald joining David Wilson and Jason Brown at the back. Flynn Duffy dropped to the bench and watched on as his team-mates were sluggish in the opening exchanges and they paid a price for that by falling behind on 10 minutes.
Former Blue Toon striker Steven Boyd grabbed the goal as he darted forward and picked out Kevin Cawley with a pass that he flicked onto Ewan Henderson who deftly teed the ball up for Boyd to crack home a left foot shot from 18 yards.
Peterhead’s day looked to be going from bad to worse when Ryan Conroy limped off on 17 minutes to be replaced Duffy however McInally’s men soon sparked into life.
Andrew McCarthy surged forward on the right and sent over a low cross that just needed a touch to get over the line.
On 29 minutes McCarthy had better luck as he flashed the ball into the Alloa box once more and Niah Payne applied the finish with a first time shot to make the score 1-1.
Five minutes later Peterhead forced a corner however the flag-kick was delayed as both McDonald and home goalkeeper David Hutton were booked as they jostled.
The yellow cards were to have an impact on the game as, just two minutes later, some dogged work in midfield presented Scott Brown with a shooting opportunity and when Hutton spilled his effort Payne was onto the ball in a flash.
Hutton sent the striker flying to pick up his second yellow card and be sent off with Keir Burt brought on to face the spot-kick in place of Cawley.
Scott Brown did an immaculate job from 12 yards to put Peterhead into the lead however going in front seemed to relax the players and that lack of focus saw Alloa equalise within 30 seconds.
The ball was fed out left for Daniel Church and his swinging cross was met by Charlie Gilmour who volleyed past Long.
At the break manager McInally looked to increase his strike force by bringing on McLean with McDonald taking off with the defender’s yellow card a possible reason for his removal.
The change paid dividends just before the hour mark as McLean lost his marker at a corner from Duffy and sent a header into the net to put Peterhead ahead for a second time.
Alloa were not out of things and Adam King fired an opening wide before McLean hit the bar with another header from a set-piece on 70 minutes.
The visitors went on to enjoy the bulk of possession however a further goal was required to ensure that the three points went up the road and Hamish Ritchie almost provided however his shot flashed wide.
The goal arrived on 84 minutes in style when Josh Mulligan careered forward for 40 yards and sent a pass to Payne who took his time before providing the perfect cutback for Mulligan to slam home his second senior goal two weeks after grabbing his first.
New signing Grant Savoury came off the bench to make his debut and he almost scored with his first touch before referee Steven Kirkland blew for full-time.
Peterhead – Long, Mulligan, Conroy (Duffy 17), Jason Brown, Wilson, McDonald (McLean 45), Ferry, Ritchie, Scott Brown, McCarthy, Payne (Savoury 85)
Unused Substitutes – Wilson (G/k), Cameron, Strachan, Lyle
