Cove Rangers 3 , Cowdenbeath 1 .

Ladbrokes League 2.

Attendance-700

COWDENBEATH literally paid the penalty at the Balmoral Stadium as the league leaders maintained their 100 per cent home record.

Cowden were doing well enough in the first 45 minutes on Saturday but two incidents in the run-up to the break were their undoing.

Two spot-kicks was the difference between the sides and the Blues had to play the last 25 minutes with ten men after David Cox received a red card just after scoring the goal which pulled them back into the game.

Josh Rae played his first game for Cowdenbeath after signing on Friday and could do little about the penalities that beat him.

In general he played well enough in a defence which was without Jamie Todd for the first time this season.

Craig Barr joined Jamie Pyper in the middle and the pair of them were up against Cove’s new strike force of Mitch Megginson and Rory McAllister, signed on Friday from Peterhead.

They will pose formidable problems for all the teams in the division and it was the former Blue Toon man who was involved in both spot-kicks.

The midfield unit of Kyle Miller, Mikey Herd and Robbie Buchanan, with Graham Taylor in for Connor Smith, did well in the opening phase of the game but losing the two spot-kicks saw Cove start to dominate this area.

They kept working hard and when the Blues were down to ten they kept at it and did as well as they could.

In attack Cox was a real problem for the Rangers as was Jordan Allan but the former found himself apparently getting involved in a situation with a home fan, which earned a straight red.

The open stages of the game saw Cove try to put Cowdenbeath under pressure but there was not a lot difficult for Rae to handle and at the other end Herd went close.

Rae saved well from a typical McAllister snap shot and then Barr nipped in to stop Megginson in his tracks.

Herd created a chance for Allan with a good pass but he ended up being dispossessed as he approached the Cove box.

Ten minutes from half-time Cowden’s plan to frustrate Cove was wrecked when McAllister went down in the box under a challenge from Swann and MEGGINSON converted from the spot.

This saw the hosts up the tempo and it took good work by Barr and Pyper to keep them out but on the interval whistle McALLISTER was flagged for off-side, but the lino was overruled by the referee who waved play on. The striker went down in the Cowden box under Pyper's challemge and this time the former Peterhead man sank penalty himself.

Cowden had to start the second period well but eight minutes into the half a move involving Megginson and McAllister saw Jamie MASSON fire home number three.

Within three minutes the Blues pulled one back when, with the home defence appealing for off-side, COX cleverly evaded a challenge and cleverly clipped the ball over the ‘keeper.

Cove were caught out by the attack and for a spell looked worried but in 65 minutes their task was made easier when Cox was sent-off after being involved in what seemed like an incident with a home fan.

To be fair to the Fifers they upped their workrate and Cove struggled to make the extra man count and there were a couple of close things in front of ‘keeper Stuart McKenzie but no goals for Cowden as another away game went pointless.

Cove Rangers: McKenzie (7); Milne (6), Strachan (7); Scully (7), Ross (7), Yule (6); Mulligan (7 (Scott 74 (3))), Fyvie (7), McAllister (8) (Robertson 74 (3)), Megginson (7), Masson (7). Subs not used, Leighton, Higgins, Brown, McCafferty and Redman.

Cowdenbeath: Josh Rae (7); Fraser Mullen (7), Harvey Swann (6) (Euan Valentine (3)); Jamie Pyper (6 (Chris Hamilton (3)), Craig Barr (7), Kyle Miller (6); David Cox (6), Mikey Herd (7) (Archie Thomas (3)), Jordan Allan (6), Graham Taylor (6), Robbie Buchanan (7). Subs not used, Jacob Glass, Ross Pollock, Ryan Connelly and and Mac Whyte.

Referee- Scott Lambie (6).