It was not a good day for the Cowden under 19s after they had to travel to Dumbarton by car after the team bus broke down and then lost 4-1 to their west coast opponents.

14-year old Jamie Bouhaddou was given his first start after a promising debut from the bench against Brechin City, and the team also welcomed back Simon Doherty and Michael Fleming after injury and Holiday respectively. Overage player Paul Byrne coming into the side at left back.

Cowdenbeath couldn’t  get into there usual good quality passing game against a big physical Dumbarton side with misplaced passes all over the park which saw what good play there was breaking down.

Even though the opening exchanges were scrappy both keepers were called into action to keep the scores level with Wilson making an excellent one handed stop at the expense of a corner.

Cowdenbeath were forced into a change on 29 minutes after a bad challenge from behind on Nicholson saw the striker carried off the park with a knee injury. Michael Fleming came on at centre back with Jamie Pyper moving to centre midfield and Lewis Milne moving into the strikers role.

With 5 minutes left in the first half Dumbarton took the lead, Cowden allowing a run from midfield to go unchallenged and a quick pass giving the unmarked striker time to slot the ball past Wilson in goal. 

HT  1-0

The second half started much the same as the first finished and Cowden found themselves 2 – 0 down after 52 minutes with the towering Dumbarton striker being allowed to turn in the box and knock the ball into the net.

Cowdenbeath then rallied and started to move the ball around and had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit before a great ball played from Kyle Miller in midfield found Simon Doherty's run into the box to turn the ball past the outrushing GK to make it 2 – 1 on the hour mark.

A free kick to Dumbarton from the right saw Lee Wilson make a good save and turn the ball onto the bar only for the Dumbarton centre back to react quicker and roll the ball into an empty net. Another set piece saw Dumbarton extend their lead a corner this time 75 mins.

Lee Wilson went on to save a penalty  and the game finished 4 – 1.

“ We didn’t really get going today at all", said 19s coach Derek Nicholson.

"We showed in spells what we can do but couldn’t find any consistency and gave away really soft goals. The boys are all disappointed as they know they can play far better."