I felt at 1-0 that Dundee looked as though they had nothing left to give – I felt we were quite comfortable at 1-0, then Andy Scott hit the bar and obviously had that gone in it could have been game over, but I think to be fair to Dundee the subs made a difference to them, the team looked as though they were a bit flat before that and the subs gave them a bit energy as well. Sean Higgins kept to that small area in the box and Paul McHale got further up the park so that gave us a wee bit more of a problem and something more to think about but even at that I didn’t think our goal keeper had any saves to make. Andy Scott coming off was a problem for us because he was making clever runs he was causing them a problem, in doing so keeping Gary Harkins further back and when he came of Declan McAvoy who is a natural left back was playing in a more defensive role which allowed Dundee to come into that area, particularly Gary Irvine. It was a great ball for the goal and a great header by Colin McMenamin, but we were a bit unlucky that our keeper didn’t save it. I thought we were really unfortunate to lose the game but these things happen – we were under pressure, and a the shot breaks off Mark Brown and fell kindly to Sean Higgins who initially looked off side but I presume he wasn’t, however it’s a good finish although Stephen Robertson got a hand to it – the power forced the ball over the line. We allowed Dundee a lot of the ball and asked them to break us down to start with, in the first 15 minutes of the match I though Dundee were miles better than Alloa we didn’t show any composure during that spell but once we sorted it out and brought Stuart Noble a bit deeper and tidied that up I thought we defended really well against them – I can’t remember our goalkeeper making too many saves. I knew we would get a chance at some stage and our goal was a great finish from Scott Walker from a Kevin McDonald cross and I think the two defining moments of the game were - Andy Scott’s shot of the cross bar which would have made it 2-0 and their equalising goal which brought them right back into the game. I am pleased with our performance – it’s a difficult place to come and I thought it was a great performance from the boys and we were a little unfortunate in the end result, but we obviously wish Dundee all the best going forward into the next round and I’m pleased with all my debutants today and it was a good performance, I’m sure the players and our fans can take great credit from this display.

Allan Maitland - Manager
 

First and foremost it is only fitting to congratulate Cowdenbeath who were excellent today, they played really well – I thought in the first half they passed the ball well but we had the best chances. Unfortunately, David Hay had a great save in that spell from Bryan Prunty and we missed a couple of chances. In the second half I thought they were the better side and deserved to win it. At the end of the game I was listing the players who were not available today, Mark Gilhaney, Stuart Noble, Scot Buist, Tony Stevenson, Declan McAvoy who was injured in the warm up, Dougie Wilson and Brown Ferguson. I then had Andy Scott being injured after only ten minutes and Bryan Prunty having to leave the game with knocks, along with David McClune & Gary Carroll who were injured but still on the park. In fairness to the players they have been magnificent this year – our season ended today, if it wasn’t today it would have ended Wednesday or Sunday but you cannot go with that list of players out and expect to win the play offs. I have nothing but admiration for the team and wish Cowdenbeath every success – I hope they go on and manage to win the Play Off final now, we have come on leaps and strides this year and what we will try and do is build on that for next year. I have nothing but pride for all the players who have been involved at this club this season, but by the end of this game it was boys against men and unfortunately for us the men were just that bit stronger that us. We will just utilise that and make ourselves stronger and better for next year, I think in fairness if we look at our team we would openly admit we are nowhere near ready to go and compete in the First Division and we will look to address it during the summer and look to go and win it next year – and get ourselves over that finishing line and be better prepared for it. The main thing today is to concentrate on Cowdenbeath and well done to them.

Allan Maitland - Team Manager
 

This seems to be a season littered with last minute goals – Whether its Stirling Albion’s last minute goal here last week to snatch a draw, Cowdenbeath’s goal tonight or our last minute goal when we beat them in the Scottish Cup , there has been a lot of late goals this season, but tonight for my point of view on the back of the disappointment of not having won promotion as champions I thought we were excellent tonight, we had seven players out through injury and I thought our attitude was great, we controlled long spells of the game without making too much of a threat, Cowdenbeath might have felt we might be feeling sorry for ourselves but there was no sign of that, we were first to the ball, aggressive in the middle of the park, got the ball to the front two who were really good tonight, David Gormley scored a great goal and as the game went on I thought we maybe didn’t create chances when we had the opportunity, we defended resolutely our two centre backs were top drawer tonight. There might of being a worry going into this game we might not be up for the game but from the first minute to the last we were up for it, even to the extent we scored both goals in the game – David McClune got in front of John Dempster to score an own goal but Dempster’s presence caused the goal, before “mini” dived in to header it in to his own net. So we live to fight another day, we have been to Central Park on four occasions this season and drawn every game, while we have met at Recreation Park and we have won three, so we hope that form continues on Saturday in the second leg of this tie. Cowdenbeath have been excellent all season and had a strong side on the park this evening so every credit to them. Saturday will be our eighth game against Cowdenbeath this season and we will look forward to that and hopefully progress into next weeks final.

Allan Maitland – Team Manager
 

I would like to start first and foremost by congratulating Stirling Albion, the team that wins the league is always the team that deserves it and they have just been that bit better than us this year. Congratulations to Allan Moore and all his team and everyone associated with Stirling Albion. From our point of view I look at our season and I look back to 5 years ago when we were in the relegation play offs and I think that season we ended up with 32 points and now this season we are in the promotion play offs on 65 points so the difference in the last 5 years has been huge for me, we are making strides in the right direction and now have two massive games against a really good Cowdenbeath side who caused us lots of problems today – and they had the luxury of resting some of their players – Gareth Wardlaw, Paul McQuade and Joe Mbu. They will obviously be fresh for Wednesday nights game whereas we have now Stuart Noble, Scot Buist and Mark Gilhaney, all really struggling for the game after picking up injuries today – unfortunately we will not be in great shape for the game with Brown Ferguson and Mark Brown struggling as well– people are asking will we be down after not winning the league – and the answer to that is quite simply no – I think we have done our bit today, we have got ourselves into a situation where we are back to winning football matches which is vital, I think the other thing is that when we look at our season we feel as though we have had a really good season we slipped up the last three games and I accept that but to be fair I thought we played reasonably well at Peterhead, but not picking up points in previous three games has cost us. We now have something else to look forward to, we have a completely new challenge and we need to make sure that we are ready for that. I am delighted with the players today, I thought that Andy Scott in particular was excellent, Bryan Prunty was superb as well. If we can just keep putting the ball into dangerous areas we will go on and see if we can get ourselves into the final. The last thing I would say is that young Jamie Hay came on today, he has been out on loan to Bo’ness for most of the season, he came in today and I thought he made a huge difference for us, with good energy, got on the ball, made passes, didn’t seem to have any of the anxiety that other people had and helped us enormously. Motivation is a funny thing to talk about – it has to come from within and if you had seen us playing the last three weeks you wouldn’t have thought that we were motivated. We shouldn’t have needed any more motivation than the opportunity to win the league and we have only really started playing in that vain in the last 25 minutes of today’s game. From our point of view I don’t see motivation as being a problem during the play offs. We have done our bit and won our game again and hopefully that has got the bad spell out of the way. I am pleased with the players, pleased for everybody, but disappointed not to win the league – it’s always difficult when you lose out on goal difference but from our point of view the most important thing was that we won today – if we had lost and they had won the league if we hadn’t done our bit – that would have been worse. I was pleased with the players today.

Allan Maitland - Team Manager

Today we welcome Danny Lennon, Ian Jenkins, the coaches, players, Directors and supporters of Cowdenbeath Football Club for what is the final league match of both our seasons. The game has the possibility of having high drama but it could have been so much more had Cowdenbeath not lost a goal 5 minutes into stoppage time on Tuesday night against Stirling Albion. That goal prevented them from having the opportunity of winning the league themselves but it cannot disguise the fact that Cowdenbeath have had a magnificent season and have promotion very much in their sights via the play offs.
The game against Stirling was the second time in 8 days that Danny’s side have lost a three goal half time lead and I suspect the memory of the first match was still very much in their minds when they lost the second goal on Tuesday. Danny has been my vote for the manager of the season for the second division and I wish him well in the play offs but obviously not at our expenses.
The last three games for us have been a major disappointment with defeats against Brechin, Dumbarton and Peterhead at a time when we knew that two wins would probably have been enough to secure the title – I wish I could pinpoint the reason for the defeats but ultimately we’ve lost the games due to our own failings on the day, in terms of losing soft goals and not controlling enough of the game. Having said that I felt we played well in long stages at Peterhead last Saturday and lost two goals against the run of play and met a keeper in inspired form who denied Stuart Noble and Bryan Prunty at crucial times in the game.
Our task today is simple - we need to win and hope that Brechin can beat Stirling Albion – if that happens then we can enjoy a party that will last for days on end. If that doesn’t happen then we can look forward to two further games against Cowdenbeath on Wednesday and Saturday, which will be our 7th and 8th games against each other this season.
I know that the last three games have been hugely disappointing but I believe that we have had a great season and shown fantastic improvement on our previous years at the club. If anyone suggested at the beginning of the season that we would have a chance on the last day of winning the league then we would be thrilled at the prospect and that is how we need to approach today’s game. Nothing matters other than winning today and hoping that things go our way at Brechin – there have been so many cases when that has happened in unlikely circumstances, Celtic losing at Motherwell for Rangers to win the league and Hearts losing at Dundee allowing Celtic to win the league are two that spring to mind. Stranger things have happened and within our squad we have the belief that today could still be our day.
Injuries to Mark Brown and Brown Ferguson have come at a terrible time and seriously affected our midfield, especially with John Grant still trying to catch up with the pace of the game after his suspension. I have been very pleased however to welcome Mark Gilhaney back to the squad and the fact that he is so fresh at this stage of the season is a huge boost. Having David McClune back from suspension is also good timing and he was sorely missed last week.

Our support at Peterhead was excellent and I wish we could have given you more to cheer.

I hope you all enjoy today’s game.

Allan Maitland
Manager
 

I think if we had played as well today as we had in the last two weeks, then I thought we would get something from the game. However having played really well at times today at Peterhead and having plenty of chances to score, it was a game where it was important to score the first goal just to give us a lift, Stuart Noble had a wonderful opportunity to open the scoring but unfortunately today he came up against a goalkeeper in Paul Jarvie, who was later to be named “Man of the match” such was his display and array of top class stops keeping shots out from angles at times it looked as if we had scored. Even after Peterhead went ahead with their first real chance in the game, scoring from a dangerous cross into the box, using the wind, in another game played in very blustery conditions, Bryan Prunty had an even better chance to draw us level just after they scored but again Jarvie was the home teams hero again and in the second half he again denied Noble with two point blank saves. I was bitterly disappointed to loose today, especially having such a good support there to back us. We had hoped today would take us on a final showdown but we missed chances when we were on top. Ultimately we lacked a bit of innovation and creative play on the day and we did not defend their goals well. We have now lost 7 goals in our last three games and it has cost us dearly. If it is to be the play offs we are involved in then we have to get ourselves up – it is disappointing how we have lost in the last three games. We had great support today and it has still been a great season and whilst disappointed with the last two weeks, whatever happens the season is not over and we need to get ourselves back to winning games.

Allan Maitland – Team Manager
 

Allan Maitland after Dumbarton Game

It’s a strange time to start losing home games, but that comes with anxiety of being at the top of the league, today we came against a Dumbarton side that I thought played really well, particularly in the first half and deservedly went ahead, but I am expecting my experienced players to get us through these days and what I don’t expect is my experienced players to get themselves sent off so quickly after having been booked and I think that absolutely killed us. In the second half we showed great spirit and got ourselves back into the game with a penalty kick which looked a soft one – I thought we had two better claims after that to be fair, I thought Stuart Noble had a great chance but Michael White made a great save on the line and at that time we had the momentum of the game – we then lost a really strange and soft goal when we should have cleared it –however, it needed a good shout and someone to take charge, but we didn’t clear it properly and they scored and as people say goals change games and that’s exactly what happened. Dumbarton then looked as though they could have scored a third goal and it became more difficult for us but we still have spirit and as long as we still have spirit we still have a chance. We now have a situation where we know we need to go to Peterhead and win, then we have got to try and beat Cowdenbeath and obviously hope that Stirling Albion slip up in the meantime. It was always going to be a difficult game today as it has been against Dumbarton all season, if we don’t win the league it won’t be because we can’t beat Dumbarton, it will be because we have not done enough ourselves. We had got ourselves into a great position and in the last two weeks for whatever reason we have not started the games until we went behind and I think that is exactly what happened today, but we have got spirit and still believe and I have told the guys to go out tonight and have a blow out and get it out of their system and we will come back and train on Tuesday and Thursday and will hopefully go to Peterhead and do better. It’s fair to say today was disappointing and I don’t think we have got anybody to blame but ourselves.

Allan Maitland – Team Manager
 

Today I wish to extend a warm welcome to Jim Chapman, his coaches, the players, the directors and the supporters of Dumbarton Football Club for a match that has huge significance for us in our quest to win this league.
I watched Dumbarton draw 3 each on Tuesday night in a very entertaining match against Clyde. I know how frustrated Jim will be after his side lost a 3 – 1 half time lead and looked odds on to extend that in the early part of the second half only to conceded 2 goals after fantastic strike by Neil McGowan and a late Adam Strachan penalty (his second of the game). Part of the disappointment will obviously be not winning despite superb performances by Derek Carcary and the excellent David Winters. I suspect that losing the 2 points will make the play offs almost impossible with a four points deficit on Brechin who have 2 games in hand (although they played one of those on Wednesday against Stirling Albion) and only three games left. In the games we have played against Dumbarton this season they have at times played as well as any team in this division.
Last Saturday we lost 3 – 2 against Brechin City after losing a last minute penalty that at best could have been described as dubious. That disappointment came after the players showed fantastic spirit to get back on level terms after being two down with only ten minutes left. Their efforts in the game certainly deserved at least a point but it was another example of how important it is to score when you’re on top, which we were for the majority of the first half. Our disappointment was that despite having a lot of possession the game was played at a pace that suited Brechin more than us. As always Craig Nelson had three excellent saves and unfortunately our defending was not up to our normal standards.
With only three games left the destiny of the league title is very much in our hands but we fully understand that nothing has yet been achieved. If any team had the opportunity to swap with our position then they would inevitably do so and we require one final push over the last three games to achieve something extraordinary.
At this stage of the season it’s a good time to look at players that are in the reckoning for player of the season and also to consider which goal has been the best. For my part I would say that every player has been superb and given more than could normally be expected over the season and it is impossible for me to single anyone out. However the best goals this season (in my opinion) have been Scott Agnew’s late strike against Brechin City, Bryan Prunty’s late strike against Stenhousemuir, David McClune’s even later strike against Clyde and Gary Carroll’s equaliser against Stirling Albion – every one of these goals have been at a vital stage of the game but I find it impossible to select any one above another, so good luck if you’re trying to choose (it’s possible I’ve missed your favourite and if so I apologise).
As we enter the final vital three matches where 2 wins and a draw would probably clinch the title I ask you all for a final push to support the team and encourage them over the line.
As always I thank you for all your support, win lose or draw, and hope you enjoy the game.

Allan Maitland
Team Manager

We are obviously disappointed to loose, in strange circumstances, I thought in the first half of the game we didn’t show enough urgency and even though we had lots of the ball and Craig Nelson had a couple of good saves I thought the pace of the game was too slow and in Brechin’s only chance they created in the first half they scored from it and that put us on the backfoot. In the second half we were to open and that was due to the fact we were then chasing the game and they could have picked us off, they hit the post and David Crawford had a great one on one save but having made the save he could half expect his defence to clear but we didn’t do that and Brechin got a second goal, we then suddenly came alive again in the last twenty minutes, we scored from a corner kick, we hit the post, we scored a second goal, we were the team on the ascendancy and then out of the blue Chris Townsley made a mistake, which is very rare for him and from the mistake – how the referee decides that was a penalty I’ll never know? He said he felt David Crawford had a hold of McAllister’s jersey but I’m sorry for me McAllister got to close to Crawford, pushed the ball past him, got between him and the ball and Rory went down, probably through tiredness more than anything else and how the referee saw that as a penalty at that stage of the game is unbelievable. However we have had decisions go our way and sometimes they go against you but I’m not happy about it but if the referee sees it as being a penalty he has to give it and that’s absolutely fine. From our point of view the last twenty minutes was miles better than the first seventy but we need to do that more often if we are to going to try and win the league. Brechin are a good side, they needed to win this game just as badly as we did and I thought it was a very good game of football, unfortunately for Alloa Athletic, not the result we would have looked for but it was a good game. We need to move on, I said before the game I thought we needed anther seven points, win two and draw one, we now have three games left and still need more points just today’s defeat has come earlier than I would have liked, we have big games ahead of us and with Stirling Albion also winning it tightens the pack, but it is still all to play for, no one will gave anything at this stage of the season, we will have to win it on our on merit and today twenty minutes isn’t enough to beat a good Brechin side.

Allan Maitland - Team Manager

First and foremost you have to say Clyde played with a freedom and expression and passed the ball excellently, really really well, certainly in the first half in particular they were easily the better side, we scored well against the run of play and you can see the reason why they are where they are in the league because the created three great chances and missed the lot of them, the one at the back post when the guy slipped it past the post, the one at the penalty spot when the player got knocked down, these should be goals everyday of the week but then when you look at Bryan Prunty, you look at Stuart Noble there lies the difference, we had three chances in the entire game – the keeper made a great save at the first one, and the other two are great finishes, Prunty’s first touch for the second goal when he headers it across the defender and gets himself one on one with the goalkeeper was magnificent and gave himself the option to go round the keeper or just toe poke it under him, that was the significant difference but all credit needs to go to Clyde tonight, we are what we are – we are a very hard team to defeat which has been borne out with the number of shutouts we have had this season and Davie Crawford has been a big part of that but tonight I thought the guys who did really well for us were Chris Townsley who was immense and Declan McAvoy at left back who did really well for us especially in the second half he dug in against Jordan White who was going to beat him most times in the air but certainly did enough to force him under pressure and made sure on his one opportunity he headed over the bar. We are getting to a stage where we are very close to the end of the season and this team have a chance of achieving something and their desire to do it at the moment is greater than their ability they are showing on the park but they have been fantastic this season and they are determined not to let anything slip, we always say we are hard to beat and with Bryan Prunty and Stuart Noble on the park then we have every chance of winning games. For what it is worth I thought the two centre midfield players of Clyde were excellent, Connor Stevenson and the Latvian boy were spraying the ball about all night, part of that problem for us was Scot Buist was struggling with injury, had to play due to Scott Walker being suspended, so the back four were too deep, created a big space in the middle which made it really difficult for Mark Brown and John Grant or Bomber get close to them and that allowed them to play, full credit to them they played really well and I think 2-0 was a little harsh. But at the moment our need is probably greater than their’s. We picked up three injuries tonight in Scot Buist, David McClune and Andy Scott, Scot Buist looks like being a no for Saturday, David McClune has a possibility. We gave Gary Carroll a rest for most of tonight and Scott Walker will again be available for Saturday, but there is no doubt on Saturday we will need to play better than we did tonight but the same result would be very welcome.

Allan Maitland - Team Manager