[NoSkillz]

Sat. September 1, 2018

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two
Queen’s Park (3-0-1, 9 points, 3rd) vs. Cowdenbeath (0-1-2, 1 point, 9th)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Betting Odds: Queen’s Park: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Cowdenbeath: 13-8
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We are the slightest of favourites at home against Cowdenbeath. “The Blue Brazil”, as they are affectionately known, are on a poor run of form in recent years – they were in the Championship as recently as 2014/15, were relegated to League One after that campaign and then relegated again the next year to League Two, where they’ve finished LAST each of the last two seasons, only staying up due to playoff wins. The media doesn’t think much of their chances this year either, with a 9th place prediction. Their top player is left fullback Jason Talbot; strikers Josh Skelly and Kris Renton are tied for the team lead with 3 goals apiece.

Once again, I’m sticking with the exact same starting eleven but I will pull back somewhat on our tactics, going with a more balanced approach as opposed to the aggressive pressing we did in our last game.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Kyle MacDonald, Cammy Foy, Sam Robertson, Gregor Fotheringham, Derek Young, Dominic McMeekin, Connor Higgins

Cowdenbeath come out in a 4-1-3-2 formation, with Skelly and Renton up front and David McGurn is their keeper. I tell the team to give the fans their money’s worth.

7’ – We have the ball out wide and cross it into the middle but Josh Peters is taken down. That’s a PENALTY! Peters steps up to take it and his shot to the right corner is STOPPED by McGurn. Oh NO!!!

10’ – We have a corner and Kurtis Roberts’ shot is headed away by Cowdenbeath but right to Dylan Thomas. He one touches a left-footed ROCKET past McGurn and it’s in! That’s Thomas’ first goal with our club! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

HALFTIME – Well, that was pretty dull. I guess that’s what I wanted when I pulled back with our pressing. Not much in the way of chances, although Cowdenbeath had more opportunities late in the half. We’re dominating possession, with 60% of the ball and outshot them by a 6-4 (2-2 on target) total. I’d like to see more from my team here and I tell them they are capable of better.

65’ – I have to pull off Josh Peters – he’s getting tons of chances but he’s down in the dumps after missing the penalty early and his rating is brutal. I need some confidence in there and hopefully young Connor Higgins can find me another goal.

72’ – I pull out a “nervous” Ross Finnie and put in veteran DM Gregor Fotheringham.

78’ – We work some passes in midfield between Thomas and Jamie McKernon and it’s Thomas sending a long ball up field. Higgins has those fresh legs and beats the defenders to the ball but his shot rattles off the crossbar. Their goalie is down and attempts to scoop up the rebound but Higgins gets there first and punches it home. That’s three games in a row where Higgins has scored from off the bench! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-0

89’ – I take out the excellent Sam Lidington and bring in Kyle MacDonald.

Hey, we can play defense too!

Queen’s Park 2 - 0 Cowdenbeath
Goals – Dylan Thomas (8.3), Connor Higgins (7.2)
Assists – Kurtis Roberts (7.8)
Man of the Match – Dylan Thomas
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.1), James Grant (7.8), Kesi Omolokun (7.5), Sam Lidington (7.6), Jamie McKernon (7.4), Josh Peters (5.7)
Attendance - 772 (63 away)

Things opened up a bit in the second half and we got yet another key goal from substitute Connor Higgins to lock things up. We held 58% of possession and outshot them 19-11 (6-6 on target) – they had one sequence late in the second half where they had three point blank shots on Hart in succession and our keeper turned them all aside. Inconsistent efforts from our players in a “feast or famine” type of match, with seven of eleven starters getting ratings over 7.0 and the other four all at 6.5 or lower, topped by Josh Peters and his horrid 5.7 rating. He had plenty of chances but just lacked confidence after that penalty miss. Fellow striker Ewan MacPherson did absolutely nothing all game, a rarity this season. I’m very pleased with Thomas’ game today – I was *this* close to putting Derek Young in this game instead, as Thomas had struggled to produce this year, but I’m glad I stuck with the youngster.

-- Clyde continue to roll, winning 4-3 over Annan Athletic but Peterhead drop a heavy 4-1 decision against Edinburgh City, allowing us to vault into second on the table.



Reserves Update

-- Our reserves win a 3-0 decision over Albion Rovers Reserves, with goals coming from Kyle McDowell, Connor Higgins and Billy Mortimer.



Scottish League Two Team of the Week

-- We have three players named to the league’s team of the week. Getting honoured are Sam Lidington, Kesi Omolokun and Dylan Thomas.



U18 Update

-- Our youngsters battle to a 1-1 draw against Elgin City’s Reserves team in a friendly. Newcomer Mitchell Foy was player of the game and loanee Scott Glover suited up for the first time since returning from injury.

-- The U18s play a league game a few days later, dropping a 2-1 decision to St. Mirren’s U18s. Striker Danny Jackson scores our only goal.



Next Up -

-- We head into the second round of Irn-Bru Cup play, welcoming Northern Ireland Premiership champion Crusaders FC to Hampden Park.