The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cowdenbeath hold leaders to earn plaudits
Top played bottom at Links Park yesterday, but it was lowly Cowden who emerged with most of the credit after a League Two draw.
Montrose boss Stewart Petrie was “frustrated and disappointed” after a turgid 90 minutes.
He said: “We worked hard to get a goal in front but we couldn’t see the game out.
“Cowdenbeath came with a game plan and it worked as they made things difficult for us.
“We should have won the game, but we lacked quality in the final third.
“Gary Fraser scored a good goal and we should have scored more from Iain Campbell’s set-piece deliveries.
“Any home game we don’t win is a disappointment, but we will rest and get ready for a difficult game at Annan on Saturday.”
Montrose might have scored in the first minute. A Gary Fraser shot was saved by David McGurn and Scott Rumsby completed the clearance.
On 21 minutes, Harvey Swann went on a solo run and his shot was tipped over by home keeper Allan Fleming.
Montrose needed to raise their game at the start of the second half, but Cowdenbeath had the better chances.
Fleming had to save from Cameron Muirhead, then pulled off a flying stop from Bradley Smith.
The home side got their noses in front on 68 minutes when a Campbell free-kick was headed home by Fraser.
Cowden were far from out of it and equalised on 80 minutes. A shot from Matthew McInally was deflected on to the post by Fleming, but the rebound fell perfectly for Robert Buchanan to score.
Cowdenbeath boss Gary Bollan said: “We were well worth a point and we could have sneaked it.
“We had one or two more chances than Montrose and their keeper made more saves.
“Our commitment was terrific as we made it difficult for them to play by pressing.
“The players work their socks off in training and it is showing in games.
“Since I took over we have played the teams in the top half of the league and have matched every one of them.
“We need to start turning one-point games into three-point games and climb the table.”
Attendance: 543. Montrose: Fleming, Allan, Dillon, I Campbell, Steeves, Callaghan (B Trialist 63), Watson, Masson, Webster (Johnston 71), Fraser, McLaren (Templeman 60). Subs not used: Hay, Cavanagh, R Campbell, Millar. Cowdenbeath: McGurn, McInally, Pyper, Rumsby, Swan, Mullen, Miller, Malcolm, Buchanan, Muirhead (C Henderson 67, Garden 87), Brad Smith. Subs not used: Whittaker, Connelly, B Trialist, Rutherford, Fotheringham.
Referee: Scott Lambie.