Match Report

Cowdenbeath v Stenhousemuir at Central Park, Cowdenbeath on 17.10.15

Ladbrokes League One                                  Att 349

Cowdenbeath 2 [Donaldson 24, Spence 70] Stenhousemuir 2 [McMenamin 87, Small 90]

Cowdenbeath – Sneddon, Donaldson, Adamson, Scullion [b51], El Zubaida, Miller [b56] [Hughes 88], Brett, Murdoch, Spence [b58], Smith [b45] [Kane 61] and Callaghan. Subs not used – Yaqub, Johnston, Hunter, Orritt and Buchanan.

Stenhousemuir – Barclay, McCormack, Paterson [Henderson 60], Malcolm, Meechan, Robertson, Gilhaney [b73], Stirling [b28] [Millar 60], McMenamin, Mazana and Cook [Small 72]. Subs not used – Murray, Marenghi, Shaw and Eddington.

Referee – Colin Steven  Assistants – Ross Haswell and Ryan Oliver

This game kicked off late due to players being held up in traffic and Cowdenbeath must have wished that the game finished at the normal time as Stenhousemuir make an unexpected late comeback after that time.

Stenhousemuir had made one change to the starting eleven that had lost to Peterhead with Colin McMenamin returning after suspension. That game had seen the Warriors weak at corner kicks and this once again proved to the Achilles heel as they lost the first goal that way.

Neither team had set the heather on fire in the opening stages and it took until the 11^th minute before either side had an attempt at goal with a McMenamin  header from a Cook cross just wide. Four minutes later a Ross Meechan volley after Cowden had failed to clear a corner went narrowly past the post. It took until the 19^th minute before the home side made their presence known and they caused problems with a series of corners that caused the Stenhousemuir defence a number of problems. This gave Cowdenbeath a lift and they took the lead in the 24^th minute. Stenhousemuir lost possession with a poor free kick and Cowden counter attacked and Dean Brett struck a powerful drive off the bar, the rebound was picked up by Andy Murdoch and his strike was tipped over the bar by Jamie Barclay. From the resultant corner though Brad Donaldson headed home at the near post. They almost doubled the lead when a Meechan miskick almost landed in his own net and shortly afterwards a Stuart Malcolm slip was pounced on and Kyle Miller’s effort took a slight deflection to go wide. Jon Robertson then saw a volley at the other end comfortably saved by Jamie Sneddon as it lacked power, and the keeper did well to keep a Steven Stirling strike from close range out after a goalmouth scramble.

The second half saw McMenamin volley over from inside the box and this was followed in the 51^st minute by Robertson picking out Cook in the middle but he failed to get full control of his effort and Sneddon made a routine stop. The game looked over in the 70^th minute when Cowdenbeath once again scored after Stenhousemuir gave away cheap possession at a freekick. Kyle Miller picked up the ball and must have run 60 yards before picking out Greig Spence in the middle who had a simple chance to dispatch the ball into the net. It certainly looked no way back when the Warriors missed a couple of chances in quick succession, the first saw Carlos Mazana drag an effort wide after a Mark Gilhaney cross wasn’t cleared then Meechan’s shot beat the keeper but was cleared off the line by Kenny Adamson. Barclay then saved at close range from Kyle Miller in the 86^th minute and that proved to be vital as the deficit was reduced a minute later when a Mazana corner was headed on by Lewis Small and Colin McMenamin headed home at the back post. This exposed Cowdenbeath’s fragility and they were camped in their own half for the rest of the match. In the 90^th minute Small scored the equaliser tucking the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble and the on-loan Falkirk player pounced to make himself an instant hero. After that there was sustained pressure and Stenhousemuir could have won the game with the last kick of the ball but a McMenamin effort drifted just wide.