Cowdenbeath 1 Raith Rovers 1
Monday, September 29
Reserve League East
Cowdenbeath - Shand (15)
Raith - Blackadder (8)
Cowden and Raith shared the spoils in a lively match at rainswept Central Park. After striking the post early on, the visitors grabbed the lead when Ryan Blackadder slotted home after being set up by a trialist. The Blue Brazil's riposte was swift and Calvin Shand directed a powerful header into the net from a Stevie Boyle corner.
Ross Matheson - performing a striking role - was brought down by the Raith keeper outside the penalty area but the referee opted for a lenient yellow card. Stephen Stewart beat two defenders and found himself in the clear but his fierce effort was beaten out.
Rovers were soon back in the game and Blackadder almost fractured the crossbar with a piledriver from fully 30 yards. Both Danny Sweeney and Jonathan Bain cleared off the line as Raith put the Blue Brazil under pressure. But the defence held firm and Cowden almost stole the points when Kevin Gordon's audacious lob from 50 yards rebounded from the bar with the goalkeeper nowhere.
Cowdenbeath - Allan Fleming, Brian Ford (Jonathon Bain), Danny Sweeney, Calvin Shand, Darren McGregor, Adam Moffat, Stephen Stewart (Mark McEwen, 69), Jackie Myles, Ross Matheson, Kevin Gordon, Stevie Boyle (Stevie Bristow*, 61).
* denotes trialist
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Cowdenbeath 1 Arbroath 2
Monday, September 8
Reserve League East
Cowdenbeath - Fallon (58)
Arbroath - Innes (52), Henslee (65)
Cowden lost by the odd goal in three after an incident-packed encounter at Central Park. It was a night of mixed fortunes for John Fallon who scored a spectacular goal and missed a penalty before being carried off with a serious ankle injury which will keep him out for several weeks.
John Slaven almost shot the Blue Brazil into an early lead but his effort was pushed onto the post by the goalkeeper. Gary Fusco twice came close and Slaven again struck the woodwork when he headed a Stevie Boyle cross against the bar.
The visitors sharpened up their act after the interval and opened the scoring when Innes ran on to a square ball and sent a 30-yard rocket into the top corner which gave young John Gilbertson no chance in the Cowden goal. Arbroath almost doubled their lead when a corner kick was headed against the upright before bouncing to safety.
Cowden fought back and a defence-splitting pass from Boyle found Fallon in space and he rattled home a fierce drive from 20 yards. Play swung to the other end and the Lichties were awarded a penalty when Darren McGregor was adjudged to have committed a foul on the edge of the area. Henslee stepped up to score from the spot.
Minutes later, it was the Blue Brazil's turn to be handed a penalty when Slaven's netbound header was punched off the line by Durno, who was shown a straight red card. Fallon volunteered to take the kick but his powerful effort clattered off the inside of the post and stayed out. Worse was to follow for the Cowden front-man when he failed to rise from the turf after being heavily tackled and was carried from the field.
Despite the introduction of young strikers Liam Buchanan and Ryan McCallum, the Blue Brazil were unable to find an equaliser.
Cowdenbeath - John Gilbertson (Kevin Smith, 45), Brian Ford, Gary Fusco, Kevin Robertson (Ryan McCallum, 76), Darren McGregor, Ross Matheson, Stephen Stewart, John Fallon, John Slaven (Liam Buchanan, 72), Kevin Gordon, Stevie Boyle.
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St Johnstone 1 Cowdenbeath 0
Tuesday, August 19
Reserve League East
Scorer - Malone (48)
Cowden went down to a narrow defeat from the full-time Saints side at McDairmid Park (...writes Andy Mullen). Allan Fleming was in top form in the Blue Brazil goal and pulled off some magnificent saves during the first half to keep the score line blank at the interval.
However, the young keeper was beaten three minutes into the second period when Eddie Malone headed home from a Martyn Fotheringham free kick.
Cowdenbeath - Allan Fleming, Brian Ford, Ross McBride (Darren McGregor, 64), Bryan Gilfillan, John McKeown, Adam Moffat, Iain Mauchlen (Lee Black, 79), Gary Fusco, Liam Buchanan (Grant Killin, 66), John Fallon, Steven Boyle
Subs Not Used - Ryan McCallum & Jamie Campbell
