Forfar Athletic 4, Cowdenbeath 3.

Ladbrokes League 2

Attendance-516

A LATE goal cost Cowdenbeath the chance of their first league point of the new season but more importantly, made it two defeats on the bounce.

Cowden had battled back bravely from being 3-1 down early in the second period and were looking like getting all three points, when they were punished again for some soft defending.

The Blues had taken an early lead but were hit by a Loons double in the first-half and then a third at the start of the second period.

But they battled back to get level and then were hit by a late sickener.

Kyle Miller and Burton O'Brien dropped out of the starting line-up for this one with Lewis Moore and Brian Ross in the midfield.

Unlike against Elgin, the midfield carried more danger going forward and there were a lot of chances for Cowdenbeath at Station Park on Saturday but at the rear there were problems.

With Gerry McLauchlan still out Greg Ross continued at centre-back but his pairing with Craig Sives was caught out a couple of times by Forfar.

Cowden opened the game well and made several raids into Loons’ territory before taking the lead in the 17th minute. From a set piece Forfar could not pin down SIVES and he shot high past former Cowdenbeath ‘keeper Grant Adam, from 12 yards out.

This lifted the Blues and they moved the ball about well but soon after they were caught out when Jim LISTER was in the right spot to head home the equaliser three minutes later when he eluded his marker.

The home side started to dictate possession and Dave McGurn had to mop up a couple of dangerous situations, but in 24 minutes Forfar grabbed the lead when Danny DENHOLM sent a 22 yard free-kick past McGurn.

That was how it stood at the break but the home side started the second period well and went 3-1 up after 51 minutes. The Cowden defence was caught out again and Josh PETERS shot low past McGurn from midway inside the box.

Things looked bleak for Cowdenbeath but they got back into things on the hour when Nicolay TODOROV headed home after Chris Turner hit the bar, then Dean Brett hit a post.

The home side looked shaky and the equaliser came with ten minutes left when MOORE fired an unsavable shot high into the net from 25 yards.

Could Cowden get a winner, well they went about looking for it and posed the home side problems, but with just three minutes remaining slackness by the visitors was punished by Gavin SWANKIE who took a Lister assist and net the winner.

Forfar Athletic: Adam (6); MacKintosh (6), Bain (6); Munro (6), Malcolm (6), O’Brien (7); Peters (7) (Scott 72 (3)), Milne (7) (Trialist 85 (2)), Lister (8), Swankie (7), Denholm (7). Subs not used, Fotheringham, Kennedy, Aitken, Hay and Hill.

Cowdenbeath: Dave McGurn (6); Fraser Mullen (6), Shaun Rutherford (6); Greg Ross (6), Craig Sives (7), Chris Turner (6); Dean Brett (7), Brian Ross (6), Nikolay Todorov (7) (Craig Johnston 89 (2)), Gary Glen (6), Lewis Moore (7). Subs not used, Burton O’Brien, Kyle Miller, James Creaney, Harvey Swann, David Robertson and Jamie Sneddon.

Referee-Craig Charleston (6) .