Written by John - OTR Saturday, 10 April 1999 00:00

What a depressing match this was. Maybe I was expecting too much after last week's demolition or perhaps Dumbarton just haven't got what it takes. This game was a shocker. Nobody in the team got pass marks.

Dumbarton were playing against a strong wind the in first half and I lost count of the number of times Kenny Meechan hit the ball straight out the park which, as some of you know, is one of the reasons why I think Meechan is pants as a keeper.

The Sons were never in this game in the first half. The passing was abysmal and the team were lacking in commitment. Perhaps they were expecting another demolition too. One of the worst offenders was Paddy Flannery who didn't appear to be on the same pitch as the rest of the team. He was being very closely marked by the Cowdenbeath defence and the ref seemed to be letting even obvious fouls go. That doesn't excuse his perfomance though. Instead of giving back what he was getting from the Cowden defence, Paddy seemed content to fall over on every challenge in an attempt to win free kicks. It was frankly embarrassing.

Cowden scored in the 29th minute with the best move of the first half. A pass was neatly laid off to the right wing and the following cross was hit at the near post high in to the net.

With the wind behind them in the second half, Dumbarton enjoyed much more possession but far too often moves broke down because of poor passing which was very frustating for the large Sons support. Craig Brittain came very close with a shot from the half way line which landed on the roof of the net. The Cowden keeper made a great double save to keep Robertson and Flannery at bay and had to be make two more decent stops later in the game.

Substitute Chis Smith gave us some hope when he scored in the 74th minute, scrambling the ball in from close range. Dumbarton kept pressing but were starting to get caught on the break. Meechan had to palm shot over the bar from one of these breaks. And in the 84th Cowden scored from another. A long pass fell in the box for the Cowden left back, Milne. Despite the fact that there were two Dumbarton defenders with him he blaster the ball in. 2-1 to Cowden and there was no way back.