The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
City ride rollercoaster to clinch promotion
Dods’ delight as Brechin win shoot-out after thrilling tie finishes level
ALLOA ATHLETIC 4 BRECHINCITY3 AGG 4-4, 4-5 ON PENALTIES
Brechin City will play in the Championship next season after they defeated Alloa 5-4 on penalties in the second leg of the play-off final on Saturday to win promotion to Scottish football’s second tier after an 11-year absence.
In a pulsating and enthralling encounter at the Indodrill Stadium, City, who went into the match with a one-goal advantage from the first leg, found themselves 4-3 down at the end of the 90 minutes and, with the sides still level on aggregate at the end of extra-time, it was decided by penalties.
It was the second week in succession it had happened for both teams, and in a dramatic and nail-biting shoot-out, James Dale slotted home the final penalty to clinch promotion for his side to the delight and joy of the City support who ran on to the pitch to join in the celebrations after a tumultuous 120 minutes plus of non-stop action.
City boss Darren Dods, who had experienced different emotions at the same venue two years previously when he was a member of the Forfar team who went down 3-0 in the Championship play-off final clash after leading 3-1 from the first leg, couldn’t conceal his delight at the outcome.
He said: “We created a couple of chances before a magnificent strike from James Dale gave us the lead.
“I’d played with James for a couple of years at Forfar and never seen him score, but what a time for him to score his first goal for the club.
“I then was hoping we’d be able to build on that and keep things tight but Alloa scored from a penalty and scored a further goal just before the break.
“We battled back in the second-half and notched another goal to put us back in front on aggregate and then Spence scored again for Alloa to level the tie.
“Liam Watt scored a great goal to give us the advantage once again and at that stage we were just telling the players to see things out but within a minute Alloa had gone up the park and scored again.
“Some of the boys were cramping up and feeling their hamstrings as we went into extra-time but we just had to dig in to ensure that the match went to penalties and I think I aged about 10 years watching that drama unfold.
“Thankfully James scored with the final spot-kick to clinch our place in the Championship next season.
“Last season we were staring relegation in the face with 10 games to go but we managed to stay up after an incredible effort from the players and this season we were sitting sixth with just a few games left and we managed to get into fourth place on the last day of the league campaign.
“We were the outsiders of the four and nobody fancied us against Raith, but we managed to upset the odds as we did again today.
“It’s been an incredible couple of years for me.
“When I joined the club we had only seven signed players and I undoubtedly
made mistakes during that early period, but the chairman and committee stuck by me, as did the fans, and I’m just so pleased for them that we’ve managed to win promotion.”
“We’ve now got to be up for the challenge next season but it will obviously be very difficult with Dumbarton being the only other parttime team in the league.
“We probably had one of the smallest squads in League One but we’ll go up to the Championship and enjoy it.
“We’ll try and strengthen the squad and it’s a great achievement from the boys to be playing some of the best Championship sides.”
City started the game well and grabbed the lead in the 34th minute when Dale rifled home a magnificent strike from the edge of the box.
However, the Wasps hit back and Greig Spence headed home the equaliser a couple of minutes later and added a second goal from the penalty spot five minutes before half-time after Paul McLean had handled in the box.
McLean made amends nine minutes into the second-half when he powered home a header to make it 2-2 on the day and 3-2 to City on aggregate but the Wasps regained the initiative in the 74th minute when Spence completed his hattrick with a spectacular overhead kick.
However, incredibly, more was to come from this match and Liam Watt chipped home a beauty from the edge of the box in the 78th minute only for the Wasps to go straight up the field a minute later to level the tie on aggregate when Dylan Macklin powered home a header.
Then it was on to extra-time and penalties. Spence and Iain Flannigan missed for the Wasps but with Andy Jackson doing likewise for Brechin, it was left to Dale to drill in the decisive spot-kick and spark scenes of joy for the City players and supporters after what had been a rollercoaster of a match.