AFTER Saturday’s disappointing result at Cumbernauld, Cowdenbeath interim boss Stevie Crawford is wanting his side to end their home campaign with victory over Gretna 2008.
Things looked to be going well for Cowden at Broadwood, when they went in at the break two goals up against a fierce wind.
But like the Blues did, Cumbernauld Colts also played very well against the elements, and ran out 4-2 winners.
Crawford felt that nervousness crept into the play of the young Fifers, after they conceded a goal four minutes into the second period, and it affected the way they defended.
He said: “In the first half the team played very well, and deserved to be ahead at the interval with two very well worked goals.
“We had defended well against the very strong wind, but losing a goal in the first four minutes of the second half seemed to badly affect us and our confidence drained away
“The Colts are a good side, as their fourth place in the Lowland League shows, and they were able to get behind us too often and took advantage of that to get the goals to win the game.
“The first Cumbernauld goal really shook our confidence, and that was a key element in the game.”
Saturday’s last home game is a very big match for opponents, Gretna, with them sitting in second bottom spot in the Lowland League, level on points with Edinburgh University, and one goal better off on goal difference.
Under former Cowdenbeath player, Bryan Gilfillan, Gretna have battled with Uni all season to avoid bottom spot, and stay in the Lowland League, so they will be prepared to battle hard.
But the Cowden interim boss wants his team to produce a winning end to their home season.
“If we can win our last two games it could move us up the table a place or two, and our aim has to be to start with a win over Gretna,” he said.
“I have been looking at video coverage of a recent Gretna game and hopefully we can get some useful pointers which will help us get the result we need.”
Defender Greg MacPherson suffered a recurrence of his recent injury, which saw him miss the Cumbernauld game but may make this Saturday’s match, and there were no other injuries reported from the Cumbernauld match, so Crawford should be able to field a strong team.
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