Alloa 0 Falkirk 2: Comfortable afternoon provides first Championship victory

Falkirk players celebrate Zak Rudden's second goal

Alloa started the better of the two sides, but the first effort went the way of the Bairns. Andy Irving fired just wide from 25 yards inside ten minutes.

The home side had two penalty appeals turned away in the opening quarter of an hour, for hand balls from Patrick Brough and Tom Dallison, but both were rightly turned away.

Alloa had the game's first proper effort on 21 minutes when Kevin Cawley dipped an effort an inch wide of the sprawling Leo Fasan's right hand post, but Falkirk picked up from there.

Rudden made it 1-0 with a flicked header

Zak Rudden gave Ray McKinnon's side a 1-0 lead on 26 minutes. Dennon Lewis took the ball down the left and laid off Brough, whose first time delivery was nodded in by the striker on loan from Rangers.

The hosts came out firing after the goal, and Cawley was denied by Fasan just seconds after the restart.

But it was Falkirk that almost scored again moments later. A mix-up at the back gave Rudden the chance to lob Neil Parry, who was out of his box, from 30 yards, but his chip was cleared off the line by Sam Roscoe.

After a manic few minutes, a quiet period followed as the Bairns made it to half-time ahead.

Alloa had a couple of half chances, with Fasan stopping a Flannigan free-kick and pouncing on a loose ball in the box after a Liam Burt delivery.

The second half was comfortable for Falkirk, with a goal midway through the period ensuring the 2-0 victory.

Dennon Lewis and Zak Rudden broke away on 67 minutes, but were eventually caught on the ball and denied doubling the Bairns lead, but they didn't have to wait much longer.

Deimantas Petravicius beat Alloa goalkeeper Neil Parry to the ball and lobbed it over for Rudden to scramble home on the line for two.

The Bairns continued after two, and Andy Irving fired just over from 20 yards on 77 minutes.

Alloa had a couple of half chances as the game drew to a close, but McKinnon's side seen the game out very comfortably to pick up their first victory of the Championship season.

Falkirk remain bottom of the table, but close the gap to Dunfermline, next week's opponents, down to five points.