Dunfermline Athletic got their League 1 campaign off to a winning start after Matty Todd’s second-half cross flew straight into Alloa’s goal.
It had been a frustrating afternoon up until that point, with Alloa threatening early on and the Pars regularly breaking down in the final third.
A switch in formation at half-time from James McPake improved the side but it took an unintended effort from Todd to secure the points.
Key moments
Early in the game, Kyle MacDonald cleared the ball off the line for Dunfermline.
If that had gone in, given their poor start and last week’s result against the same opponent, it could have been a very different afternoon.
As half-time approached Conor Sammon found himself through but for Aaron Comrie.
The big striker made a yard for himself before going down under the challenge of Comrie – who didn’t appear to take any of the ball – but the referee wasn’t interested.
Dunfermline’s star man: Kyle Benedictus
Again captaining the side, the centre-half took a sore one early on from Sammon’s elbow but went on to win just about every other battle against the striker.
There was also a crucial block from the defender at 1-0 as Alloa rallied – and another at the death.
Alongside him, defensive partner Rhys Breen made a few important interventions of his own.
Without a solid defensive display there would have been much more for the Pars fans to vent their frustration at.
Todd was excellent, even aside from his goal, but Dunfermline required their backline to hold firm in order to take the three points.
Player ratings
Formation 4-3-3: Mehmet 6; Comrie 6, Benedictus 8, Breen 7, Edwards 6; Chalmers 6 (Wighton 7), Allan 6, Todd 7; MacDonald 7, McCann 6, O’Hara 6 (Todorov 6).
Manager under the microscope
James McPake was without the suspended Chris Hamilton, meaning Joe Chalmers came into midfield while Kyle MacDonald was preferred to Craig Wighton in attack.
After a frustrating first half there was a switch in formation, away from the preferred
4-3-3 to a 3-5-2, with MacDonald going to right wingback.
It led to a much-improved performance, aided further by the introduction of Craig Wighton and Nikolay Todorov.
Man in the middle
It was a fairly quiet afternoon for Greg Aitken but he appeared to get the one big decision wrong – when Sammon went down in the box under Comrie’s challenge.
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