Alloa Athletic have overturned a first-leg deficit against Forfar Athletic to secure their Scottish Championship status, winning the second leg of their playoff 3-0 to clinch a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Alloa came into the match needing to score at least twice to remain in the Scottish Championship, having been beaten 3-1 in the first leg of the playoff.
They almost fell further behind just a few minutes after kickoff though as Martin Fotheringham tried his luck with a long-range effort, but he could not beat the keeper.
Alloa soon started to look the more likely as Mark Docherty and Ryan McCord both got shots away, but they could not reduce the first-leg deficit.
The hosts gave themselves hope just before half time, though, as Liam Buchanan curled the ball in for Michael Chopra to blast in at the far corner.
Buchanan was involved again right at the start of the second half as he attempted to squeeze the ball in from a tight angle, but his finish lacked the power to beat the keeper.
Forfar tried to halt the Alloa resurgence when Chris Templeton won a free kick in a dangerous position, leaving Fotheringham to line it up, but his strike curled just wide.
The miss proved costly as Alloa were back on level terms on aggregate just a few minutes later as Iain Flannigan played a through-ball to Buchanan, who rifled a low finish into the bottom right corner.
Alloa's chances of completing the turnaround were dealt a blow with just over 15 minutes to go though as Graeme Holmes was shown a straight red for a late challenge on Omar Kader.
Dale Hilson tried to punish the 10-man hosts from the resulting set piece, smashing a curling effort from the left flank towards the Alloa goal, but John Gibson made the save.
Despite finishing the match a man short, the home side did complete the comeback inside the final 10 minutes as Stuart Malcolm gave away a corner, allowing Docherty to curl it in for Daryll Meggatt to nod into the bottom corner, securing Alloa's status in the second tier for another season.
Sian Cowper
