Albion Rovers 1 v 3 Cowdenbeath

Attendance : 313

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Chaplain (7). Cowdenbeath : Buchanan (56), Mikko Paatelainen (61), Guy (80).

High flying Cowdenbeath won the proverbial game of two halves at Cliftonhill against an Albion Rovers side featuring a trialist otherwise known as former Angolan international Jose Quitongo.

A positive start by Rovers didn't produce any specific notable event before Gary Fusco of Cowden made some space for himself but his strongly hit shot was too high.

Rovers grabbed the lead a couple of minutes later when Scott Chaplain drove low past Hay after George Wallace had nodded a McGhee ball down to him.

Shortly afterwards a short corner found it's way into the Cowdenbeath box and had Wallace and the 'keeper jumping for it, Hay gained control of the ball at the second attempt. Jamie Doyle then came close twice in quick succession firstly a quick turn and snapshot was too high then a Donachy layoff gave him the ball but the resultant shot was blocked.

On loan from FF Jaro, Mikko Paatelainen, brother of manager Mixu and teammate Markus had an ideal opportunity which he'd rather forget from all of 6 yards out but failed to connect. Liam Buchanan was next to test Rovers defence but George Wallace was there, it seemed to come off his hand but if so was accidental and not punished.

A defensive lapse caused home fans hearts to miss a beat in 16 minutes when Markus Paatelainen came into Rovers box from the side. He was dispossessed of the ball by 2 waiting defenders who inexplicably then left it for the Finn to take goalward only to kick weakly wide of the target.

A poor Fusco shot preceded a Quitongo shot into the arms of 'keeper Hay. Mikko Paatelainen shot over before play switched ends to see a Quitongo cross well headed by Wallace only to be foiled by a brilliant diving save from Hay.

The Blue Brazil kept plugging away and were almost handed a goal in 32 minutes when Fusco crossed the ball from the near goal line. Gordon Lennon was on hand in front of goal but his first touch sent the ball towards the net, luckily he managed to scramble it clear to preserve Rovers lead.

The last action of the first period saw McKenna tangle with McGlynn at the edge of Rovers area. The attacker managed to lift the ball towards the goal only for Scott Friel to divert the ball past the post.

Half-Time

Seconds after the restart Martin Bonnar forced Hay to save and a few minutes later Jamie Doyle loosed a low shot which seemed to take a deflection to go out but a goal-kick was awarded.

In 55 minutes a Mikko Paatelainen curler beat McGlynn but was inches off target. A minute later the score was evened up when Buchanan scrambled the ball over the line following a McBride corner which the home defence failed to clear.

It took just 5 minutes for Cowden to pull ahead when Mikko Paatelainen put in a long range shot cum cross from the nearside which beat McGlynn from a fairly tight angle.

A couple of minutes later a McKenna "goal" was adjudged offside by Mr. Winter keeping alive Rovers chances of redressing the balance after McGlynn and a defender failed to clear the danger. A remarkable miss by the visitors came about when Markus Paatelainen crossed the ball into the Rovers 6 yard box where brother Mikko, McKenna and Buchanan all failed to make contact with the ball and score.

Rovers were soon on the back foot once more but Gordon Lennon managed to weave in front of Mikko Paatelainen before he could get a shot in. With 10 minutes remaining Graham Guy completed the scoring by putting in a delightfully judged free-kick from 23 yards. Markus Paatelainen had a brace of chances soon after, the first rebounded from Rovers crossbar and the second had McGlynn scrambling to save but was a yard wide.

Friel stopped a McKenna run after he's rounded McGlynn in the box. In the dying seconds a couple of poor Cowdenbeath attempts failed and a succession or Rovers corners which ended when Hay punched clear was immediately followed by the final whistle.

Doyle and Bonnar had their names taken by Mr. Winter

Summary

A good first half for Rovers in which they failed to capitalise by scoring more goals was completely blown away by a strong second half performance by the Blue Brazil in which they really should have scored more.

Albion Rovers : McGlynn, Friel, McGhee (Reid 84), Lennon, Donnelly, Doyle, Trialist, Chaplain, Wallace, Bonnar (Chisholm 74), Donachy. Subs Not Used : Noble, Abou Beaker, Quinn.

Cowdenbeath : Hay, Guy, McBride, Ward, Hill, Fusco, Millar (Krobot 83), Markus Paatelainen, Mikko Paatelainen, McKenna (Thomson 86), Buchanan. Subs Not Used : Ritchie, Scullion, Gilbertson.

Referee : Brian Winter

Man of the Match : Jamie Doyle

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