Cowdenbeath 1, Albion Rovers 0.

Ladbrokes SPFL League One Attendance-406 JUST the result Cowden wanted after the nightmare at Dunfermline but they should have made the scoreline more convincing.

A number of times they broke through the Rovers defence, at Central Park, on Saturday in the second period but instead of shooting took the wrong option and it meant that the closing minutes were more tense than these should have been.

A very experienced defence was sent out after the rigours of the previous week and the move worked.

Skipper John Armstrong was back in his usual place and his presence, alongside Pat Scullion, gave Cowdenbeath the physicality to deal with an Albion attack who possessed a lot of height.

Scullion was cool in the closing stages as Rovers thumped the ball into the home box in their bid to get something from the game.

Kenny Adamson was back in his usual role at left-back and he had a sound 90 minutes while Dean Brett was solid on the other flank.

The midfield was on the same lines as last week with Sam Orritt the only change in that area, and he added a bit of width on the right hand side.

Chris Kane and Kyle Miller worked hard in the middle and with Greig Spence and Orritt looking lively in the wide areas, this was a better showing from the engine room area of the team.

In attack player/boss Colin Nish and Robbie Buchanan both had chances, with the Hearts loan signing getting into good positions on many occasions, but his reluctance to shoot left him without a goal.

Spence got his first goal for the club and it was no more than he deserved for a busy show coming in from the left and always looking dangerous.

Cowden got a dream start with a goal in only the second minute. Rovers’ keeper Ross Stewart spilled Buchanan’s shot from 18 yards and SPENCE was in the perfect position to blast the ball into the net from close in.

But Rovers came back and two minutes later John Gemmell’s fierce free-kick was well held by Mike Andrews and then a minute later Gary Fisher blasted over from ten yards out after a good run by Josh Mullin.

Then as the visitors kept searching for a goal, in 12 minutes Andrews mishandled a cross and the loose ball was fired in by Ally Love but Andrews recovered to save.

In 26 minutes the Blue Brazil almost grabbed a second when Spence found Orritt and his low 12 yarder was deflected for a corner by the diving Stewart. Then six minutes later Spence fed Orritt 12 yards out and his low drive produced a fine diving save from Stewart and just before the break Kane’s header from a corner flew just over.

Cowden started the second period well and Buchanan twice saw low drives blocked on the edge of the box.

Buchanan again got clear of his marker but delayed his finish and his shot took a deflection and rolled wide for a corner.

But in 55 minutes Rovers’ Gemmell fired a 25 yarder only inches wide and then two minutes later Rovers had the ball in the net when Mullin’s low shot beat Andrews but the linesman’s flag was up for off-side.

Rovers started to have a lot more of the ball and the Cowdenbeath rearguard had to be on the alert to keep the lead intact.

And with 15 minutes and excellent Scullion block stopped Ally Love’s shot from only 14 yards out then Andrews was first there to mop up a header from Michael Dunlop as the clock started to run down.

But Buchanan again broke up field and got into a good position on the edge of the box but did not shoot when the chance was there and the ball was cleared.

Rover s kept plugging away but Cowden defended solidly to rack up the first three point haul.

Cowdenbeath: Mike Andrews (7); Dean Brett (7), Kenny Adamson (7); John Armstrong (7), Pat Scullion (8), Chris Kane (6); Sam Orritt (6) (Lewis Milne 63 (3)), Kyle Miller (6) (Brad Donaldson 93 (2)), Colin Nish (6) (Luke Armstrong 73 (3)), Robbie Buchanan (6), Greig Spence (7). Subs not used, Mo Yaqub, Liam Callaghan, Cameron Muirhead and Jamie Sneddon.

Albion Rovers: Stewart (6); Reid (6) (McRobbie 87 (2)), Turnbull (6); Young (6), R Dunlop (7), M Dunlop (7); Mullin (7), Fisher (6) (Barrowman 65 (3)), Gemmell (7), Willis (6) (Ferry 80 (2)), Love (7). Subs not used, Talu, Davidson and Lockhead.

Referee-Barry Cook (6).