Cowden overcome injuries and Clyde

Andrew Cowie • Published 17 Mar 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Gareth Wardlaw opened the scoring.

Clyde 1, Cowdenbeath 2.

COWDENBEATH had to overcome injuries and Clyde to collect three more Barrs Irn Bru Second Division points at Broadwood on Saturday.

It all added up to Cowden having to produce a real hard working performance against a team who are battling for every point in their fight against the drop.

The Blue Brazil saw plenty of the ball in periods of the match but twice they had to rearrange their back line.

Manager Danny Lennon stuck by the team which had won the last two games but in only 24 minutes he had to make a change when centre-back Joe Mbu suffered an injury.

It meant Dene Droudge moving into the middle of the back four with Mark Baxter joining the fray and then after an hour it was Droudge's turn to go off. Darren McGregor was the man to move position this time but it all added up to affecting Cowden's balance.

Then in the closing stages, with all their substitutes committed, the Fifers had to battle on with ten fit players after Gareth Wardlaw picked up and injury. Nonetheless it was a fighting performance from Cowden who showed tremendous team spirit in overcoming the problems that both Clyde and the injury list provided.

Clyde came out of the blocks fast to peg Cowdenbeath back in the early stages of the game and David Hay had to be on the alert to make several good stops. Indeed the Blues last line had to make a fine block when Adam Strachan found space and fired in a fierce shot which Hay parried and Jordan White, following up, shot wide.

Shortly after Alexander Granovics let fly from 20 yards out and his shot went inches past but at the other end Paul McQuade tested Calum Reidford in the Clyde goal. Mbu had to retire but the re-shaped Cowden defence held firm and as time went on the Fifers applied plenty of pressure on Reidford.

Cowden mounted a series of raids which the Bully Wee managed to repel but as the interval approached the visitors looked more and more dangerous and in the 44th minute they took the lead.

Mark Ramsay supplied the cross which was gathered by WARDLAW. The big striker took his time to fire in a fierce shot which deflected of Willie Kinniburgh and beat the 'keeper.

It was just the boost Cowden needed and they opened the second-half well pegging the home side back although McQuade had to be replaced by Brian Fairbairn.

Reidford had to make good blocks from Wardlaw and Craig Winter but on the hour Droudge had to go off to be replaced by John Dempster meaning another re-shuffle. But the substitute did not have to wait long to make an impact. In 68 minutes the striker found space in the Clyde box and his fierce shot was blocked by Reidford but DEMPSTER was first to react and he followed up to make it 2-0.

Clyde were shattered by this loss and with their fans getting wrestless Cowden had a couple of good chances to make things worse for them.

However, the Bully Wee survived but the visiting cause got worse when Wardlaw picked up a knock.

Cowden had all their subs on so they had to drop into a defensive formation for the closing moments and Clyde took advantage to pull one back in 83 minutes. With the Cowden defence under pressure Dimitri BORISOV was able to get time to place a good shot past Hay.

But the Blues were not for giving up the win and they redoubled their workrate to ensure that Clyde were kept at bay and a sixth away league win of the campaign.

Clyde: Reidford; Park, McGowan; Kinniburgh, Boyle, Granovics (Sawyers 72); White, McLachlan, Stewart (Borisovs 79), Doolan, Strachan. Subs not used, Wilson, Cassidy and Allan.

Cowdenbeath: Hay; Armstrong, Linton; McGregor, Droudge (Demspter 59), Mbu (Baxter 24); Ramsay, McQuade (Fairbairn 46), Wardlaw, Winter, Stein. Subs not used, McBride and Bower.

Referee-Kevin Clancy. Attendance-649.

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