SCOTTISH football has so far resisted the calls for VAR. But, there must have been plenty in the Wee County pining for its introduction after a controversial afternoon at the Recs.

It was hard for anyone of an Alloa persuasion not to join the bandwagon as big decisions had a huge say in a battle of two sides threatened by the Championship trapdoor.

Whistler David Munro endeared himself to few in black and gold when he awarded the visitors not one but two penalties within a helter-skelter second-half minute. The first for an innocuous looking handball and the second for a slight push.

Stuart Bannigan made no mistake at the second time of asking as he stroked a penalty beyond the reach of Alloa's one-man Goliath Jamie MacDonald to secure Thistle a point, cancelling out Adam Brown's deflected opener which had looked like sending the Wasps on their way to a much-needed win.

Rather than serving up your usual battle at the bottom – where experienced pros look like they've just been dragged from the nearest five-a-side park – this was anything but.

When the Wasps get the football right, they really do and for large parts of the first-half the pieces of Peter Grant's puzzle fell perfectly into place as they stormed towards Thistle's goal.

He's had to endure some criticism for admitting he opted to go for a smaller squad, but one thing Grant got spot on was the signing of Kevin O'Hara.

The former Falkirk man has been electric recently and here he was at his Duracell-like best, playing at 100 miles an hour and always on the verge of something special.

An inch and the hand of Scott Fox was all that stood between him and the opener when he flicked on Brown's inviting corner, only for the goalkeeper to just about claw it off the line. O'Hara and Grant launched the protests, but referee Munro was unmoved and replays suggested it was too close to call conclusively.

O'Hara continued to be at the heart of the Wasps whenever they clicked into gear, starting a wonderful move from their own box which saw Malcolm, Brown, and Jon Robertson get in on the action, before Kevin Cawley fired a volley just over the bar.

Thistle were certainly rattled but no Ian McCall team can ever be expected to go down with a whimper. Much less one with players of Kenny Miller, Joe Cardle, and Reece Cole's quality.

Cardle mercifully got caught between using his head or flinging a foot at a cross towards the back post, before Miller showed the cunning of all his years at the highest level to escape the clutches of Scott Taggart only to be denied by a wonder-save from MacDonald.

The loanee was at it again in the second-half, flinging to his right to deny Cole on two separate occasions. He later clawed a James Penrice drive off his line to keep the Wasps level.

Alloa were still trying to jab away at the Thistle midriff whenever the visitors let their guard down and soon they looked to have landed the knockout blow.

Blair Malcolm was the unlikely architect, measuring a wonderful pass into the path of Brown, whose ball across the face of the goal was turned home by Steven Saunders.

Brown, who had no qualms about claiming the goal, nearly made it two when his dipping, curling shot was desperately booted off the line by Fox.

It all looked so good with less than 20 minutes only for the madness to ensue. First, Robbie Deas was harshly judged to have handled the ball from a Cardle shot. Bannigan stepped up, only for MacDonald to silence the Thistle fans in the Railway End.

They weren't quiet for long and when Malcolm put his hands into Cardle's back, the winger had little hesitation in going down. Once again Bannigan stepped up, only this time he gave MacDonald no chance.

Buoyed by their luck, Thistle stormed forward in search of a winner but Alloa, to their immense credit, did not succumb.