Stenhousemuir 1 [Diack 33]              Cowdenbeath 0

  

This was the second top of the table clash between the teams in four days and both managers made three changes to the starting personnel. For Stenhousemuir John Ovenstone, Andy Brand and Kevin Motion came into the starting eleven whilst Cowdenbeath introduced Danny Mackay, Marek Tomana and Mark Ramsay.

 The last game had been a dour affair with little goalmouth action but this in contrast was open affair with both teams playing a passing game. Stenhousemuir almost opened the scoring in the 4^th minute when a Kevin Motion long range shot was tipped over the bar by David Hay.

Cowdenbeath almost exposed indecision in the home defence a couple of minutes later but Scott Bennett eventually took control though the Cowden players were claiming that he handled outside the box.

Stenhousemuir should have taken the lead in the 10^th minute when Scott Dalziel released Iain Diack but with only the keeper to beat and at close range he blasted the ball over the bar.

Cowdenbeath were creating openings themselves and Tomana tested Bennett with a powerful shot and they themselves missed a golden chance when John Dempster made room down the left flank and his cross was sent over the bar from 8 yards by Brain Fairnbairn who perhaps had been distracted by the slightest of touches by a defender.

Craig Molloy tested Hay with a powerful effort from distance and the resultant corner was just missed by Chris McLeod who if he had got a touch would have scored.  

Stenhousemuir eventually took the lead in the 33^rd minute when Scott Dalziel headed a Chris McLeod effort goalwards and Iain Diack touched the ball home from  almost on the line to finish the job, and both players celebrated that they had scored the goal. Whoever scored was in the scheme of things not important the fact that Stenhousemuir had scored was.

Stenhousemuir continued to press and Brand had a freekick that whistled just over and in the last move of the half Cowden’s Darren McGregor was relieved to see a headed clearance just go over his own bar from an Alan Morgan corner.

Cowdenbeath suffered misfortune at the start of the second period when Tomana was injured following a Motion tackle for which the Stenhousemuir player was cautioned.

Stenhousemuir had the chance to score their second in the 65^th minute when the ball fell to Dalziel following a miss-hit clearance by a defender and the striker was only denied when Hay partly blocked the shot.

That miss could have been costly when Cowden had a great chance to grab the equaliser two minutes later when  Scott Bennett made a hash of a high ball and sub Graeme Brown who had just came on the park hooked the ball onto the bar with almost his first touch of the game. There followed a spell of pressure from the league leaders and Brown had an effort blocked possibly by use of an arm though at close range it was more of a case of ball struck arm than the other way about and a minute later a goalbound effort struck another Cowden player and fell to safety.

In the 74^th minute there was another shout for a penalty when Motion cleared a John Gemmell shot off the line but there was no whistle blown must to the disgust of the Cowden players and their vociferous support

This was a good day for the Stenhousemuir ranks as they managed to keep a clean sheet despite coming under severe pressure from the visitors who were looking to preserve an unbeaten league record that had extended to ten games.  The last time the league leaders had lost was the 15^th of November when Stenhousemuir were the winners at Central Park.There was one sour note for the Warriors when Robert Love was injured from a rash tackle by Derek Fleming who was promptly cautioned in the final minutes of the game .

The victory for Stenhousemuir gives them slim hopes of the league title but more importantly at this stage helps their play off hopes and they will be looking to build on this result, the third win that Stenhousemuir have over Cowdenbeath this season, as the season gets to a more critical stage.    

 

Stenhousemuir – Bennett, Lyle [b9], McGroarty, McLeod, Ovenstone, Motion [b47], Molloy, Brand, Dalziel, Diack [Love 72][Shirra 86] and Morgan [ Ferguson 78]. Subs not used   Renton and Smith

 

Cowdenbeath – Hay, Mackay [Adamson 53], Fleming [b85], McGregor, Armstrong [b22], Mbu, Fairbairn [Brown 65], Shields [b71], Dempster, Tomana [Gemmell 55][b65] and Ramsay. Subs not used  – Jackson and Ferguson

 

Referee – Steven McLean                   

Assistants – Derek Rose, Paul Robertson