Cowdenbeath v Stirling Albion

Written by RedWeb

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Cowdenbeath 3 (Darren McGregor, Gareth Wardlaw (2)) Stirling Albion 3 (Iain Russell (2), Andy Graham) Stirling Albion Scott Christie Andy Graham Ross Forsyth Andy Gibson Jonathan Page Scott Robertson Nathan Taggart Chris Aitken Michael Mullen Iain Russell David O'Brien Subs: Brian Allison on for 7 Derek Colquhoun on for 8 David McKenna on for 9 Paul Murphy (Unused) Myles Hogarth (GK) Cowdenbeath David Hay John Armstrong Scott Linton Darren McGregor Mark Baxter Joe Mbu Mark Ramsay Jon Robertson Gareth Wardlaw Paul McQuade Scott McBride Subs: Jay Stein on for 9 John Dempster on for 11 Brian Fairbairn (Unused) Kenny Adamson (Unused) Kris Bower (GK) Scottish League Division Two Tuesday 27th April, 2010 Central Park Attendance: 1,084 Crikey, it's after midnight and I'm only just starting the report so no messing, let's get down to the nitty gritty. Team lines for the match showed the same XI on duty who started against Clyde. On the bench Brian Allison made a comeback following illness at the weekend. On a sunny but chilly evening in darkest Fife the Beanos kicked off with manager Allan Moore opting to start with a back three. Bold but possibly risky move from the gaffer, especially with Brian Allison fit and available for duty. The Beanos started positively enough and Chris Aitken drilled a long range shot over the bar. However, it wasn't long before any title party hopes were starting to fade. A corner from the Cowdenbeath left was met by DARREN McGREGOR and the midfielder's header was bundled into his own net by Jonathan Page. This goal has officially been credited to the Cowdenbeath man but to me it looked all the world like an OG from Jon Page. The Albion defender tried to make amends for his gaffe moments later but his header following a David O'Brien corner was deflected behind. A long punt then caught out the jittery Stirling defence and Paul McQuade did well to poke an effort goalwards which was easily held by Scott Christie. Better play from Stirling saw the ball dinked into the box only for Michael Mullen to drag his shot across the face of goal. Michael Mullen Flashes A Shot Across Goal The Beanos were looking far from comfortable on the bobbly Central Park pitch and their shaky defending wasn't helping matters. The back three has always been a gamble and tonight it was looking like one gamble too many as Cowdenbeath's mobile forwards continued to cause all sorts of problems. Stirling though continued to threaten the home defence from time to time and Iain Russell headed wide following a driven cross from David O'Brien. However, the feeling persisted that the Beanos backline may cough up another goal and so it proved. A ball into the Albion box saw confusion reign between Scott Christie and his defenders and GARETH WARDLAW was on hand to hook in the home side's second of the night. The Beanos and their travelling army of fans were stunned. A cross from Andy Graham picked out Iain Russell but the on-loan Morton man could only steer his header wide of target. Things were not looking good for Stirling at this stage and it soon got worse. After an initial effort was cleared the ball was played back in by Mark Baxter and somehow GARETH WARDLAW bundled the ball into the net off of various Albion bodies and the left hand post. Bit of a flukey finish but it summed up our performance so far in that Cowdenbeath seemed to be that bit hungrier. The Albion were on the ropes and another Cowdenbeath goal would surely have ended the contest before the break. They nearly had one when Scott McBride burst through and his goal bound strike deflected just over Scott Christie's cross bar. The first yellow card of the game arrived when Andy Graham was rightly carded for blatantly tugging back a breaking Scott McBride. A total disaster of a first half was thankfully soon over and as the teams trooped off for the half-time smelling salts it looked a long way back for the visitors. Half-Time:   Cowdenbeath 3   Stirling Albion 0 Crisis time in the Stirling dressing room and Allan Moore's response was to hook Nathan Taggart and Chris Aitken to allow Brian Allison and Derek Colquhoun to enter the fray. These changes saw Stirling move to a 4-3-3 formation, which if nothing else might make us harder to score against. An early chance fell the Beanos way but Michael Mullen's finish was wasteful from 15 yards. The home side continued to be a threat on the counter and Gareth Wardlaw did well to gather on the edge of the box before drilling over. The second booking of the evening came when Mark Baxter was carded for a spot of dissent towards the man in black. Stirling needed a lifeline and thanks to their main man they soon had one. A free kick saw swung into the Cowdenbeath box and from the front post area IAIN RUSSELL glanced a header down and past David Hay at his left hand post. Last midweek the Blue Brazil blew a three goal lead at Brechin and hopefully Russell's goal would have them wobbling again. Iain Russell Makes It 1-3 With Stirling sensing all was not lost the home sides play became a bit less convincing. Gareth Wardlaw was booked for persistent fouling after pulling down Brian Allison. This proved to be Wardlaw's last involvement as moments later he was replaced by Jay Stein. This change looked a defensive one from the home side as Scott McBride played just behind Paul McQuade with Stein out wide. Not surprising to see Cowdenbeath maybe happy to hold what they had. Despite having plenty of the ball the Beanos were struggling with their final ball as Joe Mbu and his defenders were getting in the way of everything. The time was ripe for another Stirling change and so David McKenna came on for the tiring Michael Mullen. An Albion corner was only partially cleared but Ross Forsyth's first time volley trundled wide of David Hay's right hand post. The next goal was key. If Stirling could get it then perhaps all was not lost. Cowdenbeath though had their eyes on the next counter and had two decent chances to get it. Firstly Paul McQuade held off Andy Graham before rounding Scott Christie and seeing his attempt from a narrow angle cleared off the line. The same man McQuade then got on the end of a good cross but somehow spooned over from close range. The Beanos seemed to have lost any momentum Iain Russell's goal gave them and the match looked to be drifting away from Allan Moore's men. It should have been a second for the visitors when a Ross Forsyth free kick fell to Andy Graham but the big defender could only poke the ball wide of a gaping net.  However, with just three minutes of the 90 remaining the Beanos did give themselves late hope of salvation. A corner from David McKenna dropped nicely in the six yard area for IAIN RUSSELL to swivel and hook in his and Stirling's second of the game. Cowden gaffer Danny Lennon could see things potentially going a tad pear shaped and so made a change with Scott McBride being replaced by John Dempster. A free kick gave Stirling fans hope of an equaliser but Derek Colquhoun's strike was easily blocked by the Cowdenbeath wall. Ross Forsyth then drilled a decent 25 yard strike straight at David Hay and at this point it looked to be all over. With the match well into stoppage time the Beanos got themselves a late, late free kick on half way. It was now or never with the ref ready to blow. Up stepped Ross Forsyth to deliver, and as everybody converged on the ball, ANDY GRAHAM rose highest to nod over David Hay and into the back of the net. In scoring Andy was totally banjoed by a combination of David Hay and Joe Mbu but he still kept his eye on the ball and scored what could prove to be a priceless goal. Andy Is Crunched But Still Scores The Late, Late Equaliser The match barely had time to restart before the referee called play to a half. An incredible escape act from Allan Moore's men to rescue a point from a match which looked totally lost at the break. Indeed it still looked lost with three minutes to go but this Albion team just doesn't know when it's beaten. Performance wise it was probably one of our poorest of the season but what we lacked in technical ability tonight we more than made up for with guts and sheer bloody mindedness. The consequences of Andy Graham's last gasp goal are two fold. Firstly, Cowdenbeath cannot win the title and it's now down to ourselves and Alloa. For Alloa to win the title they need to beat a hurting Cowdenbeath side on Saturday and hope Stirling lose at Brechin. Due to a much superior goal difference the Beanos will almost certainly win the title with just a point at the Glebe. However, such has been the up and down nature of the season you can expect a few more thrills and spills at the weekend...see you there !!

 

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