Blue Brazil’s playoff hopes suffer after crazy spell

COWDENBEATH 2 ANNAN ATHLETIC 4

A crazy end to the match saw 10-man Cowdenbeath slip to 12 points behind Annan in their bid for a League 2 play-off spot.

Gary Bollan’s side still have two games in hand but the sending off of the Blue Brazil manager’s son, Luc, seconds after Annan’s third goal ended home hopes of victory.

Cowden had taken the lead in 10 minutes, with a fierce 22-yard Fraser Mullen free-kick hitting the net, but five minutes later Chris Johnston squared things.

However, the Blue Brazil went in at the break in front when Kris Renton fired home from 10 yards but their defending let them down 10 minutes after half-time when poor marking gave Aiden Smith the chance to level things up again.

It looked like it would end in a draw until the 87th minute when the home marking again was poor to let Johnston grab the third for Annan. Smith made the points safe three minutes into time added on.

Cowden boss Gary Bollan was unhappy with the way his team defended late in the game.

“Our defending was simply not good enough,” he said.

“To lose the lead so early was poor after halftime but to not be able to see out the game for at least a point was simply unacceptable”.

Regarding the red card, Bollan reckoned worse had been not dealt with during the game.

He added: “I felt Luc was doing fine and then he was red-carded for something which did not seem to be nearly as bad as a couple of other situations which had only seen yellows, but that is what can happen sometimes.”

He will have central defender Robbie Deas, who missed the game through playing for Scotland 19s in Spain, back for tomorrow’s rearranged fixture with Albion Rovers, which Bollan stressed was a must-win.

Luc Bollan was sent off playing for Cowden.