Match Report - By Steven Mew

City put in a poor performance on Tuesday night which saw Cowdenbeath advance to the last 16 of the Scottish Cup for the first time in 14 years. Cowdenbeath were on top from start to finish and they completely deserved their victory as their players showed more fight and passion throughout.

Cowden went into the tie feeling a little hard done by after the drama of the original tie just 10 days ago. Kevin Byers struck a late equaliser for City before David Hannah’s cheeky back-heel appeared to have won the game for Cowden in the dying seconds but the referee waved play on when the ball appeared to have crossed the line. If the ball really did go over the line, then justice was certainly done in this match.

Brechin may be 10 points clear of Cowden in the second division but that counts for nothing in the Cup as the Blue Brazil put in a better performance on the night which earned them an away draw against first division outfit Queen of the South at Palmerston.

City haven’t performed particularly well in any of their Scottish Cup matches this season. They scraped past Queens Park after a replay and while they created a barrowload of chances at home to Preston Athletic, City only won by the odd goal. In the original 3rd round tie at Central Park, City created plenty of opportunities but they were definitely fortunate to force a replay.

Having lost three of their prize assets recently in the shape of Morgaro Gomis, Markus Paaterlainen and club captain Innes Ritchie, the Cowdenbeath squad was weakened greatly ahead of the match but the visitors showed that there is still life after the trio with an assured performance.

After an excellent performance against Stranraer on Saturday, John Ward kept his place in the team after his return from injury and he teamed up with another former Cowden favourite David White in the heart of defence, unfortunately the duo didn’t have the best of games against their former club.

After a fairly uneventful opening quarter of an hour, Cowden came incredibly close to breaking the deadlock. Kevin McBride’s 25 yard shot took a wicked deflection off John Ward and the ball came off the inside of the post and across the face of the goal, with Craig Nelson helpless.

Barely four minutes later the visitors had another opportunity when Pat Clarke was one on one with Nelson and while the keeper saved his weak effort, the ball rebounded out to 2nd division top scorer Liam Buchanan, who somehow blazed the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

The Blue Brazil continued to dominate and former City midfielder Martyn Fotheringham had a powerful shot from outside the area tipped over the bar by Craig Nelson in the City goal.

The home side eventually got their act together and created a couple of chances. Firstly Kevin Byers burst through the defence and with just the keeper to beat; his weak shot was palmed away by David Hay. Minutes later Steven Hampshire had an effort saved by the former City stopper.

However, Cowdenbeath deservedly broke the deadlock seven minutes before the break. Nelson made a good stop to deny Clarke but from the resulting corner, Dougie Hill rose to head in the net from Kevin McBride’s delivery.

With almost the entire team playing poorly, City gaffer Michael O’Neill will have had harsh words with the team at the break but unfortunately nothing improved in the second period.

The visitors continued to create the chances and they really should have doubled their advantage after 56 minutes. Patrick Scullion played the ball through for Liam Buchanan who was denied by Nelson but the ball fell nicely for Gary Fusco, who slammed the ball over the bar in front of an open goal.

Considering the opportunities Cowden had missed, City were fortunate only to be one down and the visitors continued to lay siege on the City goal.

Liam Buchanan was almost clean through on goal again but David White made a fantastic tackle to stop the striker in his tracks.

City pushed forward desperately in the closing stages with John Ward moving upfront alongside 3 other strikers in the shape of Connolly, Hampshire and Geddes but they struggled to get past a Cowden defence which held firm.

Overall a very disappointing performance from City in a game where very few players got pass marks. All credit must go to Cowden; they battled hard and defended heroically to hold onto their slender lead. City were outplayed in every department and they will have to improve if they are to get something out of their trip to Starks Park on Saturday, where they will take on Raith Rovers.

City manager Michael O’Neill said: “I’m obviously very disappointed. It was a very poor performance from us; we didn’t deserve to go through. We didn’t play sharp enough and lost a goal just before half time.

“The biggest disappointment was that we couldn’t get any sustained pressure in the second half. We were playing three strikers at the end but still couldn’t score.

“Our poorest performances this season have come in the cup. We scraped through against Queens Park and only just survived the first game against Cowdenbeath. It caught up with us on Tuesday.”

Cowden boss Brian Welsh said: “I think it was the right result. I thought we were by far the better team in the first match and on Tuesday the players gave everything again.

“It’s been 14 years since Cowdenbeath were in the last 16 of the cup. It’s a great achievement. We performed very well and had a lot of possession and a lot of chances to score.”

Cowdenbeath will go on to face Queen of the South at Palmerston in the next round and everyone at Brechin City would like to wish them all the best in the cup.

Other Results - Tennent's Scottish Cup Round 3 Replay

Dundee United 3 St Mirren 3

Queens win 4-2 on pens.

Queen of the South 3 Dundee 2

Last gasp winner from Robson wins it for United.