Date: 3rd October 2009	Kick off: 4:00pm
Competition: Irn-Bru 2nd Division	Referee: Brian Colvin
Venue: Ochilview	Attendance: 539
Man of the Match:

A goal either side of half time gave Cowden a convincing win at a blustery Ochilview Park to move into fourth place in the league table.

There were two changes to the side which had narrowly lost to Stirling Albion the previous week with Jay Shields dropping out along with Kenny Adamson who was suffering from a chest infection. John Armstrong came into the side as a trialist along with Scott Linton.

Former Central Parker Scott Dalziel lined up against his old side but Pat Scullion was sidelined due to injury.

The first chance of the afternoon came after five minutes but O'Reilly's 25 yard shot was well wide of the target while Wardlaw latched onto a long throw from Linton but headed just past the post.

The hosts best chance of the afternoon came after 13 minutes when Diack found himself with only Hay to beat but the Cowden custodian managed to block his ten yard shot.

At the other end a 20 yard shot from McBride after 20 minutes was parried away by keeper McCluskey and soon after Wardlaw put the loanee through on goal but Thom made a good tackle to clear the danger.

On the half hour Motion fired a dangerous cross from the left across the face of the Cowden goal but there were no takers and the ball drifted out of play. Minutes later Molloy handled the ball 20 yards out but the resulting free kick from Fairbairn went over the bar while Motion sent over a cross for Bradley who shot over  from seven yards.Thomson then tried his luck from 35 yards but his dipping shot went just over the bar.

It was Cowden however who broke the deadlock after 39 minutes when Linton fired the ball into the home box for Jon ROBERTSON to head home his first ever senior team goal from eight yards although his celebrations with the terrace supporters were cut short when he was yellow carded.

As the half drew to a close the Warriors won a succession of corners which were handled by the Cowden defence and a minute from the break Dalziel shot wide from ten yards.
         
The second half opened with Winter firing in a 20 yard shot which flew past the post as we looked to increase our lead.

The deciding goal wasn't long in coming however, with 50 minutes gone Wardlaw found himself  just inside the home box and went for a high ball along with keeper McCluskey with the pair colliding.  Stand side assistant Michael Banks signalled for a penalty and the keeper picked up a yellow card along with team mates Diack and Bradley who protested the award. Scott McBRIDE then stepped up to fire home his sixth goal of the season. 

Soon after Fairbairn saw another free kick drift over the bar before the home side made a quick succession of subsitutions in an attempt to get back into the game.

Wardlaw looked to be still suffering the effects of his head knock and was replaced by McQuade while Droudge picked up a yellow card with 20 minutes to go. Ferguson replaced McBride for the closing stages and teamed up with McQuade in the forward line.

We looked to extend our advantage with Stein trying his luck from distance while Droudge headed a Fairbairn corner just wide.

With ten minutes to go Thom was booked for a foul on McQuade and with five minutes to go Ramsay replaced Fairbairn.

As the game drew to a close a three man move involving Robertson, Ferguson and Ramsay saw the later fire in a shot which was tipped over the bar by the keeper.
 

Danny Lennon spoke to the Blue Brazil Online after the game:

"It was a very welcome three points and over the piece I thought we more than deserved the victory.

"We had a difficult time against Stenhousemuir last season and did not get our just rewards despite playing well against them. On this occasion though I was delighted with the manner in which we started the game and we were in about them from the first to the last minute.

"I knew from the way that John (Coughlin) sets his teams up that we would see a lot of the ball and I stressed the importance before the game of being patient in possession rather than trying to force it. I felt that we dominated the midfield area and the first goal from wee Robbo really settled us down.

"The way we defended as a a back four and as a team was very pleasing as we knew the problems Stenhousemuir could cause us with the strenght and height throughout their team. Everyone was disappointed with the goals we lost against Stirling Albion last week and we worked hard on the back four in training this week. We have been solid at the back all season and put it down to a bad day at the office and I thought they responded fantastically well this week.

"The Second Division is a very difficult league but we showed again that we are adapting well to the challenges this division brings. There is room for improvement and we will keep demanding more and not take out foot off the pedal.

"Once again I would like to thank the supporters for traveling through in their numbers and giving the boys such tremendous backing."