Match Report

Cowdenbeath v Stenhousemuir at Central Park, Cowdebeath on 31.10.20

SPFL League Two

Cowdenbeath 1 [Smith 59] Stenhousemuir 1 [Graham 85]

Cowdenbeath- Sinclair, Mullen, Clarke, Todd, Barr, Miller [b73], Taylor, Hay, Kavanagh [Hamilton 82], Smith and Buchanan

Subs not used– Swann, Glass, Owens, Whyte, Herd and Easton.

Stenhousemuir – Martin, Tiffoney, Munro, Little, [b67] Yeats, Halleran [Graham 65],Biabi, Blair, Tapping, Muir [b44][McGuigan 64] and Spence [Hodge 82].

Subs not used– Erskine, McQueen, Brown, Grigor and Watters

Referee – Calum Scott            Assistants – Gary Hilland and Mark Harris

This game was actually the first to be played at Central Park since March as Cowdenbeath had played their previous games at Methil due to damage caused by storms that had flooded the dressing rooms in August and wind damage in September. Cowdenbeath had worked hard to rectify the situation and were now back to their home.

Central Park due to the stock car track around the pitch means that it is wide open to the elements and the strong winds that swept the park throughout the 90 minutes inhibited quality football with the teams battling the conditions just as much as their opponents. An indication of how strong the wind could be at times was the fact that one of the dugouts, which are portable, was blown over before the game. Nevertheless the game took place and in a short season that was what mattered in the end.

The Warriors gave a debut to Paddy Martin after Graeme Smith had been injured in the Stirling game. The keeper had little to do and will have been disappointed to concede the goal but will have been happy with his overall handling and distribution.

There was little to show between the teams throughout the game and for a game between Stenhousemuir and Cowdenbeath it was a fairly tame affair compared to recent encounters. The home side the previous week had shown resilience in keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory against Edinburgh City despite playing with only ten men for most of the game and they showed their defensive strengths in this game to nullify the Stenhousemuir attacks for most of the game.

Cowdenbeath were to take the lead in the 59^th minute of the game when keeper Ross Sinclair’s free kick was misjudged by Jonathan Tiffoney and went over his head to be met by Cian Kavanagh who slipped the ball to Brad Smith though Andy Munro will have felt that he should have intercepted it and the striker took to fire home from a tight angle.

The Warriors were to equalise in the 85^th minute when Tiffoney whipped a cross in that Sinclair looked to have collected but subsequently dropped and Cammy Graham was first to react to touch the ball home for his first ever competitive senior goal.

That was to be the end of the scoring and the visitors returned home with a deserved share of the spoils and maintain their unbeaten run albeit the season is only three games old but in a curtailed league season it is vital to get as many points on the board as possible and as quick as they can.