Brazil Come North

 

A wee break from the rigours of Championship football this weekend as Brazil head North to take on Caley Thistle in the Third Round of the Scottish Cup. No no no, not that ones, but it's the Blue Brazil who will be at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday for a 3:00pm kick-off. Unfortunately, Cowdenbeath slipped out of the big boys Leagues in 2022 after a 4-0 aggregate defeat to Bonnyrigg Rose and find themselves plying their trade in the fifth tier of Scottish Football, the Lowland Football League. Our last regular games with Cowdenbeath ended in 1997 when they beat Inverness 2-1 at Central Park. The biggest home attendance at Central Park was 25,586 vs Rangers on 21 September 1949. (must have been waiting for the stock car racing to start)

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Match/Ticket Info

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Venue H2H Cowdenbeath

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	7	4	1	2	11	10	+1
Away	8	4	2	2	17	12	+5
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	15	8	3	4	28	22	+6

We have only played Cowdenbeath three times since our early days in 1997. The last three games have all been in League Cup encounters. Worryingly, the last one was a no scoring draw over 90 minutes.

Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Cowdenbeath

0 - 0 (H)

5 - 2 (A)

2 - 1 (A)

1 - 2 (A)

2 - 1 (H)

4 - 3 (A)

1 - 3 (H)

2 - 0 (H)

1 - 2 (A)

0 - 0 (A)

In our final league encounter with the Blue Brazil we were beaten 1 - 2  in Fife: 

An enthusiastic Cowdenbeath side deservedly ended the champions long unbeaten run. The home side dominated the first half as the visitors experimented with their formation. In 13 minutes Craig Sinclair headed home after a Willie Stewart corner and 4 minutes later a static defence allowed Martin Scott to hit high into the roof of the net from close range. It could have been three just before half-time but Jim Calder made a good diving save from a Nolan shot. The second half started the same way but the visitors gradually came back. They dominated the last half hour but only managed one goal. In 69 minutes a long Iain MacArthur throw was back-headed by Mike Teasdale and Paul Cherry headed home. In 84 minutes Iain Stewart tried to chip Godfrey but failed and in the dying seconds a Paul Cherry header was cleared off the line.

Godfrey Munro Ritchie Meldrum Humphreys Winter Scott Sinclair Nolan Coulston Stewart Manson - Charlie Christie Millar - Davie Ross Hamilton - Barry Wilson

Jim Calder Mike Noble Richard Hastings Iain MacArthur Paul Cherry Ross Tokely Mike Teasdale Marco De Barros Iain Stewart Brian Thomson Wayne Addicoat

 Last Time Out

We rode our luck in Fife last weekend but managed to escape with a point from East End Park. Incredibly the Pars hit the woodwork seven times before they equalised on the eighth strike in the last three minutes, the ball connoning off the post into the net from Lewis McCann. Danny Devine scored like an opportunist striker at the end of the first half as MotM woodwork kept the ball out of the net with seven incredible blocks and an assist.

Cowdenbeath's last game saw them scud Lanark United 6-0 in the South Challenge Cup. Scorers in a decent performance were Matty McDonald (34),  Josh Jack (37), Mikey Cunningham (38 pen), MacPherson (45) HT: 4-0 Jack (50), Berry (67)

Cowdenbeath FC 6  Lanark United 0

Date: 18th November 2023	Kick off: 3:00pm
Competition: South Challenge Cup	Referee:
Venue: Central Park	Attendance:

 

We are, of course, beaten finalists from last season. Record scorer Billy Mckay is our all time top scorer in the Scottish Cup. He bagged five in last season's event, including two at Livingston and two against Falkirk in the semi final bringing his total up to 12, one ahead of Sir Dennis Wyness. Iain Stewart, our master lobster comes third with six lobs.

Cowdenbeath got into the next round of the Scottish Cup after defeating Kilwinning Rangers 1-0 at Buffs Park. Super sub Mikey Cunningham came off the bench to score a late goal which saw Cowdenbeath through to the third round of the Scottish Cup, which is why they are here on Saturday.

COWDENBEATH: Hepburn; Butterworth, Walker, Jordan, McNab, Chalmers, Jack (Cunningham 64), MacDonald, MacPherson, McLaughlin, Docherty (Berry 88). Subs not used – Blair, Garcia, D Duncan and Smith.

ATTENDANCE: 527

Latest Team News

Sean Welsh got a bit of the action at East End Park after another extensive injury lay-off. Luis Longstaff was another still looking to get up to speed after a couple of weeks out and Nikola Ujdur was subbed off in the second half. One or two still carrying niggles and this might be the right time to rest some with bigger fish to fry, but first and foremost we need to get ourselves into the hat for the 4th round draw.

Cowdenbeath will be looking forward to this and I would expect a similar set up to their game against Lanark.

11 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

 I thought we could have started with our best team, try and score a couple of goals, and then take the fringe playes on.

I disagree.  Whilst that approach would be more likely to ensure a comfortable win, it doesn't really tell the manager much.  If there are players who are fighting for a starting place, you need to put them under a bit of pressure and challenge them to get the game won.  You learn little about players if you stick them on when somebody else has already done the hard work.  If the game is already safe, then it is a good time to bring on a youngster or two to get experience or players returning from injury who just need a bit of game time.

I think Dunc got it about right with the starting line up and substitutions.  He was let down by several players who can do much better than they showed yesterday.  I expect the same sort of team selection against Broomhill in January, but a much improved performance.

22 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

I disagree.  Whilst that approach would be more likely to ensure a comfortable win, it doesn't really tell the manager much.  If there are players who are fighting for a starting place, you need to put them under a bit of pressure and challenge them to get the game won.  You learn little about players if you stick them on when somebody else has already done the hard work.  If the game is already safe, then it is a good time to bring on a youngster or two to get experience or players returning from injury who just need a bit of game time.

I think Dunc got it about right with the starting line up and substitutions.  He was let down by several players who can do much better than they showed yesterday.  I expect the same sort of team selection against Broomhill in January, but a much improved performance.

I disagree. One sliced shot or push at a corner resulting in a possible penalty, and we could have been looking at a different result. I think we all know we have a good first team, and the narrative that we would only sign players that could dislodge them has never worked out well, we have signed players that few others wanted, apart from Wotherspoon, and I think DF knows who his best players are. I realise that all players need game time, but win the game first, then give them their game time.

There's good argument for both approaches.  The one used is higher risk, but gave better return in terms of game time and a proper look at fringe players.  The cost was entertainment value.

I'm sure Ferguson expected a bit more from the starting lineup and didn't intend to be relying on subs to win it, but he'll now have a better understanding of what he's working with.

 

31 minutes ago, STFU said:

There's good argument for both approaches.  The one used is higher risk, but gave better return in terms of game time and a proper look at fringe players.  The cost was entertainment value.

I'm sure Ferguson expected a bit more from the starting lineup and didn't intend to be relying on subs to win it, but he'll now have a better understanding of what he's working with.

 

I would rather the option that Jaggernaut prefers being secure with a win without taking chances but have the faith in Big Dunc to get it right 

🎥 🏆 @ICTFC v @CowdenbeathFC

A win for last season's finalists takes them through to the Fourth Round, and caps off our highlights from yesterday.#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/KedqzzlL68

— Scottish Gas Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) November 26, 2023