Montrose 1 Cowdenbeath 2

Last updated : 29 January 2005 By Footymad Previewer

Cowdenbeath tightened their grip on third spot in the division with a narrow victory at Montrose.

It was Montrose who opened the scoring after just five minutes. Kerr Dodds crossed from the right and Paul Doyle shot home off the cross bar.

Montrose continued to attack and might have stretched their lead after 13 minutes when Graeme Sharp went on a fine solo run and had a shot tipped over by Andy Carlin.

Three minutes Martin Wood crossed to Doyle on the far post, and his header was deflected for a corner.

Cowdenbeath equalised after 26 minutes. Iain Mauchlen slipped the ball through to Ryan McCallum, and he made no mistake from close range.

Montrose tried to hit back, and after 40 minutes Craig Smart put Calum Watson clear, and his shot was blocked by keeper Andew Carlin. Minutes later Watson was in again and once more the goalkeeper did enough to block.

Cowdenbeath took a 2-1 lead after 59 minutes when Darren Gribben took advantage of a mistake by Neil Stephen and ran in to score.

Montrose threw everything forward in a bid to get back into the game, and Sharp headed just over from a Dodds cross.

In a late flurry by Montrose, Wood should have done better than smashing the ball wide from inside the six-yard box, then shots from Wood, Smart and David Greenhill were all blocked by the Cowdenbeath defence.