COWDENBEATH have finished the first quarter of the Ladbrokes League 2 campaign in second top spot of the division and only one point behind the leaders Cove Rangers.

The win against Edinburgh City completed a great run of results for the Blue Brazil but manager Gary Bollan, delighted to have received the September Ladbrokes League 2 Manager of the Month award, very much has his feet on the ground. Meanwhile centre-back Craig Barr won the player of the month gong.

Like the previous week against Albion Rovers, the boss was delighted to win against Edinburgh City but he felt that there were a few aspects of the game which were frustrating.

He said: “I felt that in the first-half we were really effective and created some good chances and at the other end we defended very solidly.

“After the sending off of their captain we should have been stretching them more to take advantage of the extra man, but we just could not put that into action and really should have got the second goal we needed.

“A single goal lead is always something that is flimsy and we needed the second one to put the game to bed.

“Certainly Jordan Allan was unlucky with his shot which came back of the post but we did not stretch them enough.”

However, the manager is pleased with his side being on 21 points from nine games and only one point behind leaders Cove.

“We have set targets for all stages of the season and I am delighted to be sitting on 21 at this stage,” he said.

“The coaching staff and the players have been excellent in the way that they have all taken on board what we are trying to do to improve things at the club, and there is a real buzz about the place.

“But we have to realise that we are at a very early stage of the campaign and we have to maintain that form, or indeed, improve in many areas in the coming weeks and months.”

Skipper David Cox was the match winner against City and he was pleased with the way his team dealt with taking on a team which had been on a seven game unbeaten run.

He said: “We knew that this was going to be a tense sort of game but we again gave a committed performance and worked very hard throughout the 90 minutes.

“The goal came from a situation where I just came from behind their centre-half and he did not seem to realise I was there, and i managed to nudge the ball past the ‘keeper.

“It was brilliant to get the lead just before the interval and while we might have done better after the break with them down to ten men, we defended really well.

“While we are pleased with the way things have gone there is nothing won at this stage of the season and we have to concentrate on keeping up the good form when the league restarts in three weeks time.”

There is no game this Saturday as Scotland play on Sunday in a World Cup qualifying tie and on October 19 Cowden are in action in the second round of the William Hill Scottish Cup against Broxburn at Central Park. The league re-starts on October 26 when Cowden go to Stirling Albion.