Dunfermline 7 Cowdenbeath 1
Saturday, 15th Aug 2015El Bakhtaoui (2) 1-0, El Bakhtaoui (8) 2-0; Moffat (13) 3-0; Cardle (32) 4-0; Craig Johnston red card (59); Hopkirk (65) 5-0; Wallace (73) 6-0; Cardle (88) 7-0; Scullion (89) 7-1.
A large crowd at East End Park for this League One derby witnessed yet another phenomenal display from Dunfermline. The best ever result against Cowdenbeath featured two more goals for Faissal El Bakhtaoui and for Joe Cardle as Cowdenbeath were sunk by seven great strikes
The first home league game of the season brought back Colin Nish's Blue Brazil just two weeks after the Pars sent them crashing 5-1 out of the Scottish League Cup. The visitors came in search of their first competitive win of the season while the supremely confident Pars contemplated continuing their sequence of scoring one more goal than they did in their previous game.
Manager Allan Johnston went with the same starting eleven as had brought him success against Arbroath, Cowdenbeath and Brechin City. His Cowdenbeath counterpart brought in three changed faces: Kenny Adamson, Craig Johnston and Kyle Miller. Robbie Buchanan has arrived on loan from Hearts since the teams last met.
The visitors kicked off in bright sunshine attacking the goal at the McCathie Stand end but when Ryan Williamson was sandwiched between Mo Yakub and Greig Spence Joe Cardle had a second minute opportunity to fire in a free kick. Cowdenbeath headed away but with one minute 54 seconds on the clock Faissal EL BAKHTAOUI swept a cross in from the right past Michael Andrews to find the left hand corner of the net from 15 yards. 1-0
In five minutes Faissal had another good chance after the Pars had broken on the counterattack. Michael Moffat cut the ball back from the byeline his co-striker connected but was blocked by two defenders.
The French Moroccan was soon to add his second, latching on to a Geggan header, he broke away one on one with the keeper. EL BAKHTAOUI took the ball on to his right foot to slide it home. 2-0
Michael Paton was next to have a crack at goal, his first effort being much closer than the second. Fear not, goal number three was not far away. MOFFAT ran on to a ball played over the top and it dropped nicely for him. From the edge of the box he chipped the advancing keeper and was out of luck as the ball came back off the left upright but he was able to race in a turn the ball over the line for the 13th minute goal. 3-0
Three minutes later Michael Andrews dived to his left to turn a tricky low shot from Paton around his post. The former Aberdeen youth kept up the one way traffic with a cross to the far post but Andrews stole it way from Joe Cardle.
A 20th minute corner for the visitors was penalised for feet up in the challenge and then it was the Pars turn from a corner on the right forced by Williamson. The Blue Brazil defended that and then also stopped a Moffat run after El Bakhtaoui has picked him out on the left.
Cowdenbeath came close to scoring at the midway point of the first half. Kyle Miller's free kick from 25 yards glanced off the shoulder of El Bakhtaoui as he formed a two man wall with Shaun Byrne and the Pars were lucky that the ball cleared the far right of the crossbar rather that diving under it.
Spence and Kane then crunched Byrne and El Bakhtaoui on half way. The Pars dugout was livid, Kane was lectured as the two Pars men writhed about the deck but Referee Greg Aitken did not produce a card until the next challenge when Greig Spence did not hold back in his tackle.
On the half hour Lewis Martin went in on the wrong side as Nish ran on to a Buchanan lay off. Greig Spence stepped up to hammered the spot kick at goal only for Sean Murdoch to keep the ball out with his legs.
Cowdenbeath's bad luck was compounded within 90 seconds, Paton supplying the cut back from the left for Joe CARDLE to control and then ram the ball past Andrews. 4-0. With 32 minutes on the clock the home fans were chanting "We want seven!".
There was to be no more goals for this half but Dunfermline finished the half strongly and played the ball across the Cowdenbeath goal on more than one occasion.
Half time: Dunfermline 4 Cowdenbeath 0
For the second half Michael Moffat was replaced by Ryan Wallace and Cowdenbeath brought on former Pars defender Pat Scullion for Kenny Adamson. The Cowdenbeath sub made a good block on an El Bakhtaoui shot from the edge of the box in 50 minutes amnd next minute Williamson was picked out on the right and he was given room deep in the box to try a left footed effort that whistled across the face of goal.
A 53rd minute corner was headed away by Nish as Dunfermline's pressure was incessant. It was just two minutes later when Wallace got his first chance to shoot but he was outside the box and Andrews held with relative ease. Next Faiss rode a sliding tackle from Cowden skipper, Bradley Donaldson and delivered a great ball into the centre of the penalty box but Cardle was closed out.
On to the 58th minute and Wallace's smashed a shot on target but Andrews spectacularly turned the ball over his crossbar. In clearing from the corner on the right Cowden played the ball up the right where Williamson was covering. Craig Johnston went right through the Pars defender and was shown a straight red.
Josh Falkingham and David Hopkirk replaced Michael Paton and Faissal El Bakhtaoui in 63 minutes and HOPKIRK was to find the net with an easy conversion in front of goal within two minutes. 5-0
The East End crowd were really enjoying this and the stadium reacted with a "Stand up if you love the Pars". More joy followed as the players continued on song, Ryan WALLACE nipping in to send the ball home for 6-0 in 73 minutes.
With the crowd of over 4000 chanting "we want seven" the opportunity presented itself four minutes later. Falkingham was taken down by Scullion on the right side of the box and Referee Greg Aitken pointed to the same penalty spot as he had done in the first half. Wallace stepped forward but rattled his shot against the crossbar. He then tried to head in the rebound but that was blown up.
This did not halt the Dunfermline offensive, hungry for that seventh Hopkirk drove narrowly wide of the right post as the home side past the 20 mark in terms of shots. Williamson was caught offside as Cardle tried a neat pass into the box. Then Byrne turned the ball back from the right and Cowden scrambled the ball away.
Andrews was out to block a Cardle attempt and two corners followed from the right. Geggan was very disappointed that a third penalty was not given as he felt he was completely taken out at the second one.
The Central Park outfit threaten as Spence got in on the left but Richards-Everton nicked it away off the strikers toe. Goal seven duly came as Joe CARDLE was given the chance inside the right side of the box. 88 minutes 7-0
In the last minute Cowdenbeath got a consolation, rattling the ball into the Pars net, Pat SCULLION the scorer getting the help of a deflection off Falkingham. 7-1
That concluded the scoring great entertainment for the home fans, happy days for the Pars players and probably a bad day for the bookies given the number of punters who had fluttered the odd pound on the optimistic chance that 4-1, 5-1 and 6-1 wins could be followed by a 7-1 scoreline.
SUBS NOT USED: Jason Talbot, Lewis Spence, John Potter, David Hutton (GK).
SCORERS: El Bakhtaoui (2, 8), Moffat (13), Cardle (32, 88), Hopkirk (65), Wallace (73)
YELLOW CARD: Ben Richards-Everton (36), Geggan (40)
COWDENBEATH: Michael Andrews; Dean Brett, Kenny Adamson (Pat Scullion HT), Bradley Donaldson (c), Mo Yaqub; Robbie Buchanan, Chris Kane, Craig Johnston, Kyle Miller, Colin Nish, Greig Spence.
SUBS NOT USED: Lewis Milne, Sam Orritt, Luke Armstrong, Liam Callaghan, Jack Wright, Jamie Sneddon (GK).
SCORERS: Scullion (89)
YELLOW CARD: Spence (27), Nish (42), Donaldson (57), Brett (60)
RED CARD: Johnston (59)
REFEREE: Greg Aitken
WEATHER: Sunny 14ºC
ATTENDANCE 4009
NEXT MATCH: Petrofac Training Cup (away) v Forfar Athletic
Tuesday 18th August 2015, kick off 7.30pm at Station Park
Views : 23,480
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Check out the Gallery for more photo's -- the images below will scroll through automatically.
Preview Cowdenbeath
Thursday, 13th Aug 2015Just two week's after the same fixture in the Scottish League Cup, the Pars welcome their nearest neighbours back to East End Park on league business.
The first of this double header produced a fine 5-1 home win. Following last Saturday's 6-1 win at Brechin, the team will be out to try and keep their success rolling on. No doubt Colin Nish and his Cowdenbeath side will have been working on a plan to prevent that.
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Milestones Cowdenbeath (Home) | |||
|
Last Victory |
01/08/15 |
5-1 |
League Cup |
|
Last Defeat |
18/05/14 |
0-3 |
First Div Play Off |
|
Best Victory |
|
5-1 |
League Cup |
|
Worst Defeat |
|
1-4 |
Div B Two |
Two Saturdays ago in the Scottish League Cup First Round, Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Shaun Byrne scored twice, Ryan Wallace converted a penalty while Declan Hughes made the only reply for Cowdenbeath.
| Last Dozen Meetings | ||||
| 2015/16 | ||||
| 01/08/15 | Dunfermline | 5-1 | Cowdenbeath | League Cup |
| 2013/14 | ||||
| 18/05/14 | Dunfermline | 0-3 | Cowdenbeath | Play off |
| 14/05/14 | Cowdenbeath | 1-1 | Dunfermline | Play off |
| 27/07/13 | Cowdenbeath | 1-3 | Dunfermline | Ramsden Cup |
| 2012/13 | ||||
| 20/04/13 | Dunfermline | 1-0 | Cowdenbeath | First Division |
| 12/02/13 | Cowdenbeath | 4-2 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 27/10/12 | Dunfermline | 3-0 | Cowdenbeath | First Division |
| 11/08/12 | Cowdenbeath | 0-4 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 2010/11 | ||||
| 02/04/11 | Cowdenbeath | 0-1 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 12/02/11 | Cowdenbeath | 0-4 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 29/12/10 | Dunfermline | 5-0 | Cowdenbeath | First Division |
| 18/09/10 | Dunfermline | 2-1 | Cowdenbeath | First Division |
Dunfermline's record against Cowdenbeath reveals 44 wins and 29 defeats with 17 draws. Of the last twelve meetings Dunfermline have won ten but this is a local derby and everybody knows history and the form book can go out the window. Apart from the disappointing 3-0 defeat to the Blue Brazil in the First Division play offs two seasons ago, Cowdenbeath's last East End Park win was in May 1993.
Recent Form
For the second match running Cowdenbeath ended with just ten men after Craig Malcolm's last-minute penalty gave Stranraer victory over in their Scottish League One opener. Former Par Ryan Thomson put the visitors ahead early on, Dean Brett levelled with a free-kick midway through the second half. But, after Chris Kane handled in the area, Malcolm converted and Cowden then had Declan Hughes sent off for violent conduct.
| Recent Form | ||||||
| Dunfermline | Cowdenbeath | |||||
| Brechin City (A) | W | 4-1 | Stranraer (H) | L | 1-2 | |
| Cowdenbeath (H) |
W |
5-1 | Dunfermline (A) | L | 1-5 | |
| Arbroath (A) | W | 4-1 | Raith Rovers (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| Hibs (H) | L | 1-2 | Edinburgh City (H) | D | 0-0 | |
| Queens Park (A) | W | 5-2 | Hearts (H) | D | 1-1 | |
| Livingston (A) | D | 0-0 | Gala Fairydean (A) | W |
5-0 |
|
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Brechin City): Sean Murdoch; Ryan Williamson, Callum Fordyce (c) (Jason Talbot HT), Ben Richards-Everton, Lewis Martin; Michael Paton, Shaun Byrne (Ryan Wallace 60), Andy Geggan, Joe Cardle; Michael Moffat, Faissal El Bakhtaoui (Josh Falkingham 69).
SUBS NOT USED: David Hopkirk, Lewis Spence, John Potter, David Hutton (GK).
COWDENBEATH (v Stranraer): Michael Andrews; Dean Brett, Pat Scullion, Bradley Donaldson, Mo Yaqub; Robbie Buchanan (Sam Orritt 82), Chris Kane, Declan Hughes, Lewis Milne (Craig Johnston 62), Colin Nish (Luke Armstrong 86), Greg Spence.
SUBS NOT USED: Kyle Miller, Liam Callaghan, Kenny Adamson, Jamie Sneddon (GK).
Referee for this Fife Derby will be Greg Aitken.
Views : 9,084
