The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
O’Brienmakes point with timely strike
THOMAS O’Brien hit his first goal in two years to earn Cowdenbeath a key Championship survival point and deny Accies clear top spot in the table.
Hamilton still lead the division from Dundee through having scored more goals than the Dens men, but when sub Mickael Anton-Curier put them ahead a minute into time added on it looked like they were going to get all three points.
But the battling Blue Brazil rolled their sleeves up, and after a series of long throws by Rory McKeown, the ball fell to O’Brien with seconds remaining and he fired the ball past Kevin Cuthbert.
Since Blues boss Jimmy Nicholl signed centre-back Darren Brownlie from Partick Thistle in January, O’Brien has had to settle for a bench role in recent weeks but he returned to first team action against Morton on Tuesday night through Brownlie being ruled out by a hamstring problem, and is loving being involved in the Cowden survival bid.
The
big
22-year-old
defender
said, “Believe it or not that is my first goal for the top team in two years, and it has been brilliant to be back in the side.
“I was up for Rory’s long throws and I saw the ball coming over from the right and it was clear to me that no defender was going to be able to cut it out.
“I thought this is a real chance to level the game and I aimed low for the corner and it was tremendous to see the ball hit the back of the net.
“It is a good point but we still have a lot of work to do. In fact we have five cup finals left, starting this Saturday at Falkirk.”
Cowden manager Jimmy Nicholl gave his team full marks for their application against Accies but he wants to see them play a bit better when they take on Falkirk and Dundee on the road in their next two games.
The result puts Cowden four points behind Alloa Athletic with five Championship games left, and clearly they need to look to pick up a result or two from these games with two of the top three sides in the division.
He said: “They gave their all but I felt we could have played a bit more football at key times. We defended doggedly throughout but did not create many good chances. Although, as I have said before, points are the most important thing at the moment, and to get one fromAccies, especially after going behind in the closing seconds, is a decent return.”
Accies bossAlex Neil was very frustrated at not getting the win. “We dominated possession and had the better chances throughout the game, and I was at a loss so see wherethefiveminutesoftimeaddedoncame from.
“Certainly the lads could have defended the Cowdenbeath goal better, but it is nice to be top and it sets things up nicely for the match with Dundee this coming weekend.”