Penalty heartbreak for

Cowdenbeath ............... 1 East Kilbride ................. 1

Paul Thomson at Central Park

East Kilbride’s dream of playing senior football will have to wait for another year at least after a heartbreaking defeat to Cowdenbeath on penalties.

Paul Woods missed from the spot in the shootout as the Blue Brazil held their nerve to earn a 5-3 win and keep their 100-year association with senior league football intact.

Liam Henderson scored the crucial kick to consign Kilby to another season in the Lowland League.

But Martin Lauchlan’s men, who went through the four play-off games without losing in 90 minutes, can hold their heads high after an energy-sapping 46-game season.

Kilby got off to a nightmare start when Fraser Mullen hammered home from 20-yards out after just three minutes.

The visitors were on the ropes early on but came back strongly in the second half to equalise through Kieran Gibbons, who scored a carbon copy of Cowden’s opener with a fine strike.

Some 220 minutes of football couldn’t separate these two sides and to lose on penalties was a cruel end to such a successful season, which included an unofficial worldrecord run of consecutive wins and a league title triumph.

Ultimately, the Kilby players will feel like this campaign has been a failure but they have been outstanding all season and deserved better.

Cowden had missed their last six penalties going into this one, but had clearly brushed up on their finishing from 12-yards with five fantastic kicks from Fraser Mullen, Kris Renton, David Syme, Craig Johnston and Henderson.