Cowdenbeath... 2
Alloa Athletic... 2
Saturday 8th March 2014
@ Central Park, Cowdenbeath
This will be the second time I've seen Cowdenbeath in 18 months, I saw them play at Livingston on the first of my treks to Scotland and now I'm in Fife and at Central Park, home to Cowdenbeath for the past 97 years. This means that I can cross them off my list as I've seen them play both home and away, but you never know, I might see them again some day.
Cowdenbeath or the Blue Brazil as they are known locally were formed when a lady named Margaret Pollock walked from Fife to Glasgow in 1880 to buy her sons a football at the cost of 13 Shillings, (65p), which must have been a small fortune in those days and on her return the ball was kicked all round the small village in Fife and the team Cowdenbeath Rangers was born.
Apparently, people south of the Scottish border, (the English), make pilgrimages to Cowdenbeath just to stare in disbelief at their Central Park ground and yes, this I can believe for having done it myself and witnessed quite a few of my fellow countrymen in the crowd around me.
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| Side of the new main stand |
Both Cowdenbeath and Alloa make two changes from the game last weekend. The Beath travelled to Livingston and lost 1-0 to the Edinburgh side, both changes come in midfield with Jon Robertson and Chris Kane making way for Sammy Stewart and Lewis Milne. Athletic were at home to face promotion candidates Hamilton and were soundly beaten 3-0 by the team from Lanarkshire and for this game Darren Young replaces Liam Caddis and Andy Kirk comes in for Eddie Ferns.
It's a must win for both of these teams with Cowdenbeath currently holding the play off relegation place and Alloa only two places and five points above them.
The Beath kicked off facing a fierce wind which could have a serious effect on the outcome of this game and so it seemed when after just six minutes and some good work in the box by Alloa they took the lead when Graeme Holmes fired a shot past Thomas Flynn in the Cowdenbeath goal.
The Blue Brazil couldn't seem to get a foot hold in a scrappy game until the 37th minute when a through ball from James Fowler found Greg Stewart on side and with time to place the ball into the back of the net.
After the half time break Cowdenbeath should have been in front but some fine goalkeeping from Scott Bain kept the scores level
Cowden kept using the strong wind which was now blowing in the direction of the Alloa goal but they couldn't find just the right judgement and the ball either went out of play or to the Alloa keeper.
In the 59th minute against the run of play Alloa took the lead again when confusion in the Cowden penalty area enabled Ryan McCord to fire home a low shot into Flynns bottom right hand corner.
The Blue Brazil kept on pressing the Alloa defence and in the 73rd minute got their just deserts when a long, wind assisted throw from Rory McKeown found Greg Stewart in the Alloa penalty area to fire home a volley and score his and Cowdenbeath's second of the afternoon and level the game once more to give both teams a point apiece which is a result not really good enough for either team.
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| The track and truck tyres that surround the pitch |
Before the game I had a couple of jars in the Partnership pub on the corner of Hall street and High street before making my way down under the railway bridge to Central Park. I didn't cross the car park to the turnstiles, instead I decided to walk round the perimeter of the ground past the Indian restaurant, the Shimla Palace, that's adjoined to the football ground and up a walk way that passed through a recreation area which was an open grassy piece of land with trees and led me to a gate which had visitors written above it. I couldn't see a way to walk right round the ground without passing through a nearby housing estate which I didn't fancy and so I turned into the cold and very powerful Fife wind and made my way back to the turnstiles.
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| Central Park doubles as a race track after the match |
The ground has a dual purpose it is also used to put on motor sports events and is the reason why it has an oval racing track that runs around the pitch. There are also big black and white painted truck tyres strewn around the sides of the pitch which maybe the attraction for the pilgrims from the south as I've never seen the likes of it before at a football ground, it does look a bit of a dump. There is a meshed safety fence which is not good for watching the game at or close to pitch level and there are pillars in the stand that restrict your viewing also.
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