Dev League: Cowdenbeath 1 – 8 Raith Rovers

Match Report

Central Park, Kelty. 25th October 2017

Cowdenbeath 1 (Whittaker 1) – 8 Raith Rovers (Bell 19, Court 28, 47, McKay 39, Stevenson 52, 76, Dall 80, 83)

Rovers rock as they regain top spot in the league table.

Both teams needed their respective warm ups on a bitter Kelty evening, but it was Rovers who were caught cold with a minute played.
A mix up across the back saw the ball fall to Jack Whittaker, seeing Brian looking for a pass-back and off his line, Whittaker deftly chipped the stranded keeper from 25 yards. 1–0

Cowdenbeath looked to press on and pushed the Rovers back into their own half, threatening from a free kick and a follow up corner.
Rovers broke the blockade and looked to level from a corner, Dall had his shot blocked and McKay pushed the rebound over the bar.
Osei laid off to Dall, but could only watch as Penman parried his low shot at the near post.
Possession went back and forth but Cowdenbeath thought they had doubled their advantage when Muirhead, in loads of space hit a rocket of the base of Brian’s near post from all of 25 yards.

Moments later, Court won a ball which was being herded out for a throw, cut in and passed to Osei, Yaw fired the ball into the box where it fell to Kyle Bell who hit it low into the net from the edge of the box. 1–1

A re-jig came in 27 minutes, Trialist B who had picked up a knock was replaced by Euan Valentine, this allowed MacDonald into CB and Euan went to LB where he would excel to great advantage later in the game.
Rovers pushed on, the ball being played to Osei who cut in from the corner laying the ball on for Johnny Court to smash the ball home from 6 yards. 1–2

With a third of the game gone Rovers had their tails up now they had taken the lead, managing to contain Cowdenbeath and stringing together passes.

From a throw-out, David McKay drifted past defenders and rifled the ball low into the net from 25 yards. 1–3

Half Time: Cowdenbeath 1 – 3 Raith Rovers

As usual at development games there was a quick team-talk on the pitch at half time, this was followed with substitutions for both sides, for Raith, McHattie made way for Trialist A.

Rovers kept up the pace from the first half and it wasn’t long before they struck again.
Berry hit a peach into the area to Johnny Court who powered his header over Penman for his second of the evening 1–4

Minutes later, chasing a hat-trick Penman pulled off a spectacular save to deny Court another headed goal.

Now it was time for the aforementioned Valentine to shine, he beat his man just inside his own half and went on a blistering run, crossing to Ryan Stevenson who rattled the ball into the net from inside the area. 1–5

Cowdenbeath battled to get into the game and Penman was kept busy with shots on target from Bell, Dall and Osei.
The game looked to have fallen into rhythm where all of the business was done, but with 14 minutes left, Rovers lifted the pace, Yaw going on a 20-yard run found Ryan Stevenson in the box where he found the net from close range. 1–6

Seconds after scoring, Craig Easton signalled to Rory Brian to make way for Christopher Peden.

Moments later Dall tried a chip on Penman, giving a shrug as the ball landed on the top of the net. From the kick out, Bell played the ball to Kieran Dall who made no mistake from inside the area. 1–7

Full of confidence and minutes after getting on the score sheet, Kieran Dall had another chip at goal, this time beating the stranded keeper from the corner of the box. 1–8

Just as we thought that the entertainment was over there was time for one more piece of action, Ryan Connolly ran from half-way and hit a thunderbolt from 25 yards, the crowd cheered Peden as he dived to tip the shot over the bar, a reassuring debut for the young man.

Speaking to your reporter after the game, Head Coach Craig Easton commented “We were all disappointed with the overall performance against Alloa last week and despite losing a goal early on, we were right on top of Cowdenbeath from kick-off.

The sharpness of our passing and tempo of our play was excellent and there was a real determination to control the game and score goals. There were lots of positives in terms of aspects of our play we’ve been focusing on in training.

We can take the confidence from this performance and look forward to the Youth Cup tie against Inverurie Loco on Sunday”.

Remember, RRFC Season Ticket holders get free entry to all Development League games. View the Development League (East) Fixture list & Table here.

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