1st things first great last 30 mins from us, why cant we attack like that more often??

Certain fans need to give Scullions a break during the game, he had a great second half when he was played in his proper position, he played a few good passes and is never scared to have a pop, he played well overall.
Finally IMHO it was never a penalty and Dougie Hill knew it, u could tell by his reaction that he conned the ref, he saw the leg and went over with very little contact. superb Dougie!!!!
After the 1st leg we should beat them at home, we BETTER be in the final

I too thought Scullion played well as did several others (Tomana never stopped and Shanks is getting better every game)
It was a penalty though - I was right in line with it. The only person Dougie conned was the Arbroath defender who put in a stupid challenge right in front of the Ref.
We could have had more penalties too! there were two or three hand balls within seconds of each other earlier on.

From where i was it wasnt a pen. The defanders leg came out and dougie went over it without contact, done it many times myself.

Shanks just needs to learn how to keep the ball in the park, his distribution is terrible

Couldnt see the penalty but who was the midget who looked like a cross between Paul Hartley and Mauro Camorenesi he was pretty good. Anyway come on saturday i cant wait and feel if we win this one weel go up

I assume u mean our centre mid? Tomana is his name, hes onloan form Stirling Albion, didnt have his best game yesterday but is a great wee player

Was at the game as I am having withdrawal symptoms already and the season's just finished!

I thought that it was 50/50 in the first half. Didn't think it was a free kick to start with that eventually led to the goal which was well hit. I did not have a good view of the penalty so cannot comment. i was impressed at the way Welsh has his players playing some fast slick passes. The midfield were on top for most of the game with Arbroath content to punt it forward for their big forwards to win. It was an entertaining game for the neutral althuogh I would like to see Cowden stay up as I actually like my trips to Central Park and it's not bloody freezing all the time!

I think if the supporters turn out, get behind the team and give them loads of encouragement then Cowden have a good chance. Feel that you should get behind your Manager too. He has lost a lot of good players through them moving on or injuries. Remember the position we were in but the club backed Michael O'Neil at the time and we managed to get some stability. It paid of. I really think that you have the makings of a very good team and if they start off the way they played the second half then I would have every confidence.

I would also add that he seems to have a good raport with the players and does not go about screaming at them but offers encouragement. In your place I would give him time. You are never going to get another Mixu along with the blend of players you had at the time. These times are special!

Anyway the best of luck on Saturday. I hope there is a big turnout for the players.

Good post, Dudley. We play good stuff when we play attacking football, but when we sit in and defend we're shaky. Mind you, we have had a terrible season with injuries. It's no coincidence that we turned the game around when we went 4-4-3 and attacked Arbroath down the flanks. I'd like to see us be a bit more adventurous and put the emphasis on attack.

I'm glad you had such a thrilling evening.

No wonder we were on top for the last spell

Agree entirely with your comment re attacking football. I hope Mr Welsh remembers this on Saturday. The last half hour Arbroath couldn't live with us!
Let's hope we send them back up the road on Saturday with their tails between their legs.

Struggle to see your logic - Dempster has 5 in 13. Dalziel scored 3 in 20!! 3rd Division goals are a lot easier to come by.

Opinion seems divided on whether it was genuinely a penalty or merely opportunistic play by Hill. Either way, the defenders leg seemed to have been there to fall over and there didn't seem to be too much vociferous protesting by the Arbroath players. My concern with this incident was not the debate over was it or wasn't it a penalty but, as has already been touched on briefly in this thread, the ludicrous celebration following the award. I've never seen the likes and such an over the top reaction suggested that Hill was solely seeking to win a penalty rather than having a bona fide go at the Arbroath goal. Fortunately for the celebrant the penalty was converted. Hubris, young man!

I also reckon that Dudley has identified an intrinsic flaw in Arbroath's tactics when he says "Arbroath [were] content to punt it forward for their big forwards to win." The big forwards in question being Andy Reilly and Alan Brazil. The former is knee-high to a grasshopper and the latter is at best of average height. Fancy a coaching job at Gayfield, Dudley?

Saturday's game should be entertaining if Arbroath are true to their away form and Cowden play the sort of football they played from the moment Flyer's shot hit the post (a save, I believe, in which case, excellent work by the Cowden keeper - looked net-bound all the way).

It was a clear penalty I was right in line with it. Dougie pushed the ball past the defender (after displaying the sort of ball skills rarerly seen from a centre half) and a lunging leg tripped him. Defender got nothing on the ball at all. He was celebrating because he was pumped up and had made an inspirational charge upfield which had resulted in a penalty - nothing wrong with that. He wasn't having a go at goal as he was dribbling across the box to make an opening not poised to shoot.

Nothing wrong with that? Call me 'draconian' but I would have booked him. Leap around like an errant child with ADHD when the goal is scored by all means, but anything more than a congratulatory slap on the back or handshake before then is grotesquely flamboyant. Plum.

Oh for the days of Charles 'Charlie' Charles, the pipe-smoking midfield maestro who could rein in his emotions and maintain a moustachioed stiff upper lip in the headiest of situations.

You want to book a guy for celebrating winning a penalty in a vital match? Come on get a grip!

If it was an Arbroath player who had done it and won a penalty I wouldnt have been bothered that he celebrated in front of the Abroath support!

Wouldnt say it was just your attacking more of the constant attacking as we couldnt get out of our haf for the last 20 mins when the wind and rain lashed against us very strongly we tried to kick it up the park only for it to be blown right back at us , and as ive said before if darren hills bionic leg could only reach just in front of the halfway line with his kicking then the wind must have been bad .

Anyway cant wait for tomorrow but it will take ages .off on study leave all day which is a bit of a drag so wanting a good game tomorrow to cheer us up .

Lichties to sneak a 1-0 win

Anyone else think that on Saturday we should get our TALLEST team possible on the park , that could win the game itself just with the fact that there team is no bigger than a sunday league under 14 side.

I would, whenever I see a player celebrating like that for a penalty, it gets right on my wick. They havent won anything yet! Same applies to our own players, I would hate to see us celebrate like that before we actually scored anything. I dont think anyone (except Cowden fans) are arguing about the penalty award itself.

Feel confident about Saturday. Arbroath are a big strong team who can only play one way - big hoof up the park and the forwards feed off the scraps. It can be very effective and in wild conditions like Wednesday they were always going to get chances to score. They didn't pass the ball about much, no more than two, maybe three, passes strung together. Their defenders are all very slow and this will be exposed on Saturday.
I predict a comfortable win for Cowden.

If it were an Arbroath player celebrating like that then you maybe wouldn't mind it but I, with my overdeveloped sense of decorum, would be horribly embarrassed. And if he ran over celebrating wildly to where I stood I would shuffle about awkwardly and inspect my fingernails until he had gone away. "Come back when you have scored", I would think.

So yes, I still want to book him. Don't worry though, my fascistic application of the rules remains caged on the terraces as I am not a referee. If I were, here's just a small sample of things I would book players for:

Alice bands
Coloured boots
Step-overs - tantamount to cheating
Over-fussy hair 'sculptures'
Habitually claiming for off-sides, throw-ins, fouls etc.

With the volume of players out through suspension, the young lads would necessarily get a chance and Scottish football would be saved. Don't thank me.

Hmmm, some flaws with that analysis. Andy Reilly is about 5 foot 2 and was playing up front. Regarding our defence, some of the other fans on here might bear witness to how solid it looks at times!


Aye, same here!

We can pass the ball but what is the point of doing that when we are playin against a team of midgets , wed create more chances playin the way we did and thats why we played that way , I hope everyone in the cowden team is as confident as you also bcause if your team goes in with that attitude we WILL BEAT yous , if your team goes in knowing its going to be a challenge then yes it will be a close game . Yous better hope you dont come down to Division3 bcause with that team you would just get kikd about every week. And our defenders arent any slower than yours.

MON THE LICHTIES

They were big given the size of the full backs for Cowden and they did hoof the ball up the park! The central defenders had to try to win countless headers so that says a lot about tactics.

I wouldn't fit in with chasing opposition players up the tunnel in the middle of a game.

you are a weird fcuker

COME ON THE COWDEN!!!!!

right we have jay shields and dougie hill probz the two fastest players in our team(untill gates came on) at the back and shanks who is no slow coach himself, fair enought about kenny ademson hes not the fastest. u have bishop how slow?????? rennie how slow??????? lunnan how slow????? even the boy yous call flyer is toein a caravan!!!!!!!! plz!!!!!!

You said defenders, and yes your defenders didnt look very fast.

And who even cares whos got the fastest defenders

our overall play was faster and better than yours!! your team is just a gang! anti football at its best!!! you should re name your club cloggers united!!!! you have no players with the abilty to play in the second!!!!! just a bunch of bullys! cream always rises to the top!!!!!!!

OK then

And so, here you are in the division 3 playoffs. I dont think anyone is arguing that we are some sort of silky stylish team. Nobody has been more critical of our team this season than our own fans. However, we made your team look very ordinary for most of the match.

name 1 player you think could do a job in the second????

Ok lets see Rattray, Rennie , Bishop , Tully , Sellars , Lunan, Watson , Scott , Reilly , Brazil and way more probably our whole team, and the players yous have got werent actually doin a job in the 2nd .

The one that comes instantly to mind is Lunan. Also, our keeper Darren Hill. Its not as if Cowdens players have done a sterling job of keeping you in the second.

This topic is nearly catching up with our home gate from wednesday

You support Cowdenbeath and are named after a fictional elephant. It's a draw.

I must admit that as soon as I saw Dougie celebrating winning the penalty I turned and said it was gonna be missed I am glad to be proved wrong......as usual

mid way through the season we were in the play offs!!!! we've been missing 4 of our starting 11 4 the last 3 months!! take away 4 of ur better players half way through a season n lets see were you finish? were jus lucky berwick were in the league!!! i agree with you on ur golie hes decent but lets not lie a junkie!!!!

We have been missing our key players for games and probably our 4 best players over the 2nd half of the season in Rattray , Scott , Sellars and Lunan , And so fuk if Hills a junkie hes great banter and his steroid pumped legs gives our team an extra 20 yards

Brilliant

trust me it aint a draw you freak. ok im weird coz a support cowdenbeath named after an elephant perhaps use your thinking behind it
whats your excuse for your name ya trumpet.

didn,t all of them play on wed???? bellers a mean sellers is fatter than me! lung in (lunan) had a mare !!!and a dont even know who the other two are!!!!!! worst team ever!!!!

Someone's out fishing and caught a huge one

Anyway, you're 3rd sub for the Fife's Finest 7's comp in June

lunan had a good game actually their best player on wed night.

if im 3rd sub then you are most defenitely the 4th.in fact you just stay on sidelines with the water ya waterboy.

Sellars fat haha what a faggot , Sellars can be quality and my dad kins him he must only weigh about 10 and a haf stone , You wont know Scott but Dundee and Clyde are both after him ive heard ,and the guy is Quality pure pace power and great finishing , he isnt fit and came on haf fit and was still faster than your back 4, Lunan never had a great game but is still quality and Rattray is class at the back , nothing gets past him hes solid. Ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bender

except 4 the pen

except 4 the pen

Lung in? Thats so funny that you had to put some brackets to explain who it was. Furthermore, it would appear that other Cowden fans disagree with you.

well a might be wrong!!! but he did cost yous the win by throwing himself into a needless tackle!!:)