Match Report

Annan squandered a glorious opportunity to make some ground on the teams at the summit of the league when they turned in a disappointing performance against a determined Cowdenbeath team who defended magnificently to deny Annan throughout the match.

It was a frustrating match for Annan who enjoyed the vast majority of the possession but in the end were undone in the 67th minute by a simple goal which gave Cowdenbeath the upper edge and although Annan put a lot of pressure on the opposing defence particularly in the last ten minutes it was Cowdenbeath who secured the three points courtesy of a superb last minute strike from substitute Josh Skelly.

Annan boss Peter Murphy made one change from the team which managed to lift a point up at the National Stadium in the previous weeks encounter with Max Wright being given the strikers role up front at the expense of Scott Roberts who was resigned to the bench.

Annan dominated the opening 10 minutes but they failed to penetrate the well organized visiting defence until the 12th minute when Ryan Sinnamon was presented with an opportunity but his snap shot went wide of the target. Cowdenbeath were being forced to defend deep and Annan forced 3 consecutive corner kicks which were all defended well.

Annan lost the services of Ayrton Sonkur in the 20th minute with a calf injury to be replaced by on loan Rangers loanee Kyle Bradley at the centre of defence. Annan came close in the 25thminute when following another corner kick Kyle Bradley’s header presented an opportunity for Tommy Muir but David McGurn pulled off an fine save.

Max Wright then set up Tommy Muir in the 35th minute only to be denied by another McGurn save. Cowdenbeath appeared content to soak up the Annan pressure as they rarely troubled the Annan defence.

Chris Johnstone who had been a constant menace throughout the first half continued in the same vein in the second half and his 55th minute cross was headed on to the cross bar by Tommy Muir.

Annan keeper Jonny Jamieson who had rarely been troubled then pulled of an important save with his feet after a deflected shot was heading for the corner of the net. At the other end McGurn once again denied Annan pulling off an excellent save to deny Muir as Annan continued to pepper the Cowdenbeath goal.

Cowdenbeath then silenced the Annan crowd in the 67th minute when an inviting dangerous cross to the near post was turned into the net by Kris Renton. The goal was a blow to Annan and Cowdenbeath started to pose a threat and they were unfortunate not to increase their lead in the 86th minute when substitute Josh Skelly finished a well constructed move with a superb shot which beat Jamieson but the effort crashed off the cross bar.

Annan pushed forward in the final 5 minutes with Cowdenbeath hanging on to their slender lead but they defended resolutely to deny Annan and as the match entered injury time Josh Skelly picked up a lose ball to finish with a superb low shot which flew into the bottom corner of the net.

It was a disappointing result from Annan particularly on a day when they had an opportunity to close the gap in the play offzone but they must quickly resolve the scoring aspect to their game if they are going to be seriously considered as play off contenders.

Annan Athletic – John Jamieson, Scott Hooper, Lewis Strapp , David Wilson, Owen Moxon,  Ayrton Sonkur ( Kyle Bradley 20 min), Chris Johnston , Ryan Sinnamon, Max Wright, Tommy Muir , Tony Wallace ( Aidan Smith 68min ). Subs not used Alex Mitchell GK, Scott Roberts, Ross Fergusson, Ruaridh Langan, James Creaney .

Cowdenbeath – David McGurn, Fraser Mullen, Jason Talbot, David Marsh, Robbie Deas, Kyle Miller ( Jamie Piper 85 min), David Cox, Blair Malcolm, Kris Renton, Gary Fraser ( Robert Buchanan 57 min) , Harvey Swann (Josh Skelly 65 min) ,Subs not used – Pat Scullion, Ryan Goodfellow, Harris Kay, JordynSheerin.

Referee – Grant Irvine ​​Assistants – Ivan Stancoviczand Michael Addy

Crowd 374

It was a day of shock results in SPFL2 as leaders Peterhead went down 2-0 at Hampden against Queens Park and Edinburgh City made the best of Peterhead’s slip up by defeating bottom club Albion Rovers 2-1 with Blair Henderson grabbing both the goals to once again go top of the league. Stirling Albion were denied all the points by a late eqauliser against Clyde at Broadwood and Berwick Rangers recorded the best result of the day with a 4-2 victory against Elgin City to give them breathing space over bottom club Albion Rovers who have appointed ex Hibernian player Kevin Harper as manager.