Cowdenbeath 0, Raith Rovers 1.

Petrofac Challenge Cup first round.

Attendance-711.

A REALLY hard fought Petrofac tie which the Championship side just edged over 90 tough minutes.

For long spells in Saturday’s game at Central Park, Cowden had control of the midfield but they found it difficult to carve out clear chances.

Rovers defended very solidly and with their midfield working hard they contained the Cowdenbeath attacks well.

Greig Spence and Luke Armstrong worked hard to get a goal but clear openings were few for them.

But both showed enough, working as a partnership, to underline that they will be a force to be reckoned with in League One.

The real plus signs came at the back for the Blue Brazil with Brad Donaldson and John Armstrong rock solid in the middle of the defence and full-backs Dean Brett and Mo Yakub not only defending well but getting forward to pose the Rovers plenty of problems.

Declan Hughes was the most active of the Cowden midfielders winning some good tackles and putting pressure on his opposite number and creating a few openings.

In the wide areas both Sam Orritt and Craig Johnston used their pace to get over several good crosses but the quality of their deliveries wasnot consistent enough. All in all a decent Cowdenbeath show without the key finishing touch.

Both sides were in their away strips and in four minutes, from Cowden’s first corner Chris Kane headed over from Orritt’s delivery.

Rovers responded by forcing a corner at the other end but after a neat move Grant Anderson blasted way over the bar.

In 16 minutes Raith won a free-kick 20 yards out and Lewis Vaughan curled his shot wide of the defensive wall but the ball rolled past the post.

In 23 minutes Rovers took the lead. A good visiting move down their left saw the ball swept into the box and VAUGHAN reacted first to shoot low past Andrews from nine yards out.

In 32 minutes a good home move saw Yakub’s cross go to Luke Armstrong and he appeared to be held before getting his shot away and Kevin Cuthbert saved.

In 39 minutes Spence worked space for himself and his fierce 16 yarder struck Lewis Toshney and stayed out then the striker fired wide on the interval whistle from the edge of the box.

Cowdenbeath started the second-half well and Spence saw a low drive blocked then Armstrong held off a tackle and his low shot was blocked by a resourceful David Bates tackle.

In 58 minutes Rovers attacked incisively and former Cowden full-back Rory McKeown fied a left foot shot from the edge of the box just wide.

With 15 minutes left a Spence pass set up Johnston but he delayed his finish and Bates made a fine tackle to deflect the ball wide.

With ten minutes left Armstrong drifted past three Rovers’ defenders but his 22 yarder flew wide but at the other end James Craigen headed past he post from a really good position.

Cowdenbeath: Mike Andrews (7); Dean Brett (7), Mo Yakub (7); John Armstrong (6), Bradley Donaldson (8), Chris Kane (6) (Colin Nish 77 (3)); Sam Orritt (7) (Milne 67 (3)), Declan Hughes (7), Greig Spence (6), Luke Armstrong (7), Craig Johnston (6). Subs not used, Kyle Miller, Liam Callaghan, Pat Scullion, Jack Wright and Jamie Sneddon.

Raith Rovers: Cuthbert (7); Thomson (7), McKeown (6); Toshney (6) (Ford 67 (3)), Bates (6), McCord (7); Anderson (7), Craigen(6), Stewart (7), Vaughan (7) (Wighton 46 (), Callachan (6). Subs not used, Petrie, Matthews, Court, Robertson and Laidlaw.

Referee-Kevin Clancy (7).