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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) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.

Think we need a bit of perspective here. This team are 13th out of 18 in the LL having won 4 games out of 16. The other week they struggled to a 4-2 win at home in the Challenge Cup over Whitehill Welfare, mid table tier 7. The last LL team we played was East Kilbride 4 years ago, and they ended up as champions but we beat them 4-0. Cowden had a decent result in the last round, winning at Kilwinning Rangers which was maybe a mild surprise. I think benching 4 or 5 from last week is a decent compromise as opposed to playing a team of youngsters as was suggested. Sean Welsh has to start and probably Duffy. If we’re not well ahead after an hour then get Billy and Spoony on but let a couple of the young players e.g. Longstaff or Brooks have a go. I know the Bonnyrigg game was almost an embarrassment but let’s start with a tempo and get this done.

Here's Dunc

Our final competitive game of 2023 is on Sunday when we host Ayr Utd in the Quarter Final of the Championship & League One Cup. I hope the women can finish with another win.

Big Duncs ICT record in cup comps isn't very good.....just saying like I'm sure we'll be fiiiiine..

That would make sense, sadly for us. But if Dundee get knocked out before us, presumably they can revoke that condition of the loan.

I think it must be on the request of Dundee, in case they recall him from the season long loan at ICT, and if he played for us in the cup he couldn't play for them in the cup.

Start of this years Hampden journey and good chance to divert attention from the 'tiresome' battery farm chat through giving these butchers, bakers and candlestick makers the level of skudding expected by an elite team with rich pedigree in this competition. Full strength home team to score plenty goals and build confidence please

Think the first one is near the viewpoint at Drumbeg going by this photo of mine from about 4 years back

That cover it?

I know he only played in our youth set up but Stuart Armstrong for Scotland on Tuesday.

I'm glad I didn't go. I'd probably have had a heart attack and wouldn't be here now.

That was a helluva game, remember it well. Bring back the derbies!