Cowdenbeath 1 Arbroath 2

Aug 9 2009 Chris Gallagher

From the Sunday Mail

COWDENBEATH boss Danny Lennon was left fuming at referee Colin Brown after the ropey ref handed Arbroath the points.

On a disastrous debut in the higher division, the Central Park side had two players sent off and one stretchered off before they crashed to defeat.

Afterwards Lennon admitted he was stunned by Kenny Adamson's early dismissal and the visitors' dubious opener and own-goal from Mark Baxter.

He said: "When decisions go against you like that it's a real test of character.

"When Kenny made the tackle, at the most I thought the referee would have spoken to him. I turned round and he was being sent off. Then their first goal came after a foul on Baxter. After that you know you're not going to get anything."

Adamson harshly received the first red card of the league season on 11 minutes for a mistimed tackle on Paul Lunan.

The hosts battled back and Brian Fairbairn tested visiting keeper Darren Hill on 27 minutes with a long-range freekick which was pushed away.

Barry Sellars should have put Arbroath ahead on 30 minutes when he blasted hopelessly over from 16 yards.

Lennon's men survived again on 34 minutes when David Hay produced a point-blank stop from Keith Gibson.

Cowdenbeath were rocked again on just after the interval when Mark Ramsey was stretchered off after going over on his ankle. Seconds later Fairbairn came close again with a diving header from Scott McBride's cross which flew wide.

But the home resistance was crumbling and on 70 minutes Joe Mbu bravely blocked Lunan's fierce volley.

The home side's dismal day took another turn for the worse seconds later when Dene Droudge received a second yellow for a trip on Jamie Bishop.

Bizarrely, if this fixture is declared void following Livi's appeal against their relegation, both dismissals will still stand.

The nine men finally buckled on 80 minutes when Baxter bundled Steven Rennie's cross over his own line under pressure from Sellars.

Bryan Scott killed the contest off on 84 minutes with a tap-in after Hay had parried Lunan's shot.

McBride grabbed a late consolation from the spot on 90 minutes after Scott had handled in the box.

Arbroath boss John McGlashan was relieved to claim the victory following the chaotic events in the build-up to the match.

He said: "We didn't know who we were going to play or where we would play.

We did all our preparation to play Airdrie and at one point we thought we might not play at all.

"I'm just glad we got the points."