AIRDRIE UNITED

Airdrie started the match slowly with several players such as Ronald, Gow, Vareille, Wilson and McGowan, looking pretty heavy legged. It took a good ten minutes to get going but Airdrie did fashion a couple of decent chances, the best falling to Stevie McKeown who played a tidy one two with David Dunn on the edge of the box but his shot sailed over the bar. Otherwise we were looking like a bow without an arrow in terms of finishing. Gow was struggling to make an impression and centre forward Ronald was looking worse than normal. Dunn was looking lively again on the left though his attempted free kick blazed miles wide, a big disappointment after his phenomonal goal on Saturday. Defensively we were pretty compact though it seemed obvious, from the display and from the touchline promptings, that the formation hadn't been worked at on the training ground.

Half an hour into the half the course of the game, and maybe our season, turned on a shocking challenge on Liam McVey that went unnoticed by the ref and his assts. Sandy Stewart was boiling with rage on the touchline and rightly so. Although McVey tried to hobble back on for a minute or two his presence inadertantly had an influence on the goal. Airdrie were attacked in his position and a neat pass was turned in by an unmarked Cowden' striker. Poor marking didn't help but Airdrie felt aggrieved. Martin Glancy was immediately thrown on for McVey a move that resulted in Dunn going to left back, Gow going to left wing and Glancy joining his old sparring partner Ronald up front. Glancy did liven up the forward line a bit, it would have been hard not to, and the left wing partnership of Dunn and Gow showed real promise. Half time approached though and Airdrie were still toiling. Vareille hadn't kicked a ball down the right, Wilson was misfiring in midfield, McKeown was treading water in midfield and Ronaldohno's display had decended to farcical.

At half time the discussion was about getting Vareille and McKeown up front, but there were no changes for the second period. It took another 15 minutes of suffering before that change took place. For the last time Ronald had failed to control a routine pass and the manager snapped. "Lee, hurry up yer oan". Never have I been so glad to see Lee Gardner come on, so bad was Ronaldo. McKeown and Vareille, our ONLY strike force worth talking about, went up front for the first time this year, with Gardner filling in the midfield role vacated by Dosser. It took a short spell for the changes to bed in but the difference in the players was evident. Suddenly we could hold the ball up, particularly as McKeown knows what he's doing. Dunn and Armstrong were rampaging from the full back slots and suddenly Marv looked like a footballer (many were questioning his authenticity). Our possession forced the visitors into a ten man defence for the last half hour and many of our chances came from set pieces. Despite his lack of inches Steve Docherty was the focal point of many of the corners as he timed his runs well. He had a decent back post header tipped over the bar under pressure with about twenty minutes left.

A down side was the amount of fouls on Alan Gow down the left as the Fife defenders took turns to collect yellow cards in the presence of a remarkably lenient referee. Steve McAuley, who had only played 15 mins at Raith a couple of weeks back, replaced Gowser and remarkably scored with his first touch, sorry, his ONLY touch. He turned a loose ball from another corner into the net from 10 yards out but looked to stub his foot in doing so. As he ran to celebrate he pulled up and had to go off. Over ten minutes left and we were down to ten men. From where I was sitting I'd hazard a guess that his knee ligaments may have been twanged. I hope not, fingers crossed.

Apart from a slip by maddog McGowan, looks like his two left feet got tangled, that let Lee Buchanan go one on one with Clark Kent's wee brother (copy right Pedro) before slipping his shot wide, it was all Airdrie. Even down to ten men we still pressed for a winner and were denied TWO stonewall penalties. Firstly Docherty was clearly pushed right in front of the ref as he jumped for a corner. Secondly as he went to retrieve a loose ball at the next one he was scythed down. That one was so obvious it still enrages me 24 hours later.