Cowdenbeath 2 Hibernian 3: Underdogs almost have their day as Fenlon gets off mark

Alasdair Reid

Rugby reporter

Monday 9 January 2012

Central Park is known as a banger racing venue in some circles – or should that be ovals?

Hibernian striker Eoin Doyle scores his first goal for the club to take them into a 2-1 lead. Picture: Sammy Turner/SNS

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Alasdair Reid

– and, after 16 seconds of this William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round tie, Hibernian must have felt that the likeliest outcome of the match was that they would be carted off to the scrapyard.

That was all the time it took for Cowdenbeath to score a sensational opening goal. Striker Greg Stewart accepted a crisp through-ball from Colin Cameron, the jug-eared Methuselah who now does service as the Fife side's player/manager, twisted past Sean O'Hanlon and fired a low shot past Mark Brown and into the corner of the net.

Yet the Easter Road side patched up their sorry jalopy and somehow got back on the road. At the final whistle, it was easy to commend the courage and character of second division Cowdenbeath for their up-and-at-'em approach, but it would be remiss to ignore the fact that Hibs also dug in well, giving Pat Fenlon his first win since taking over in November.These gutsy approaches produced five goals, and a rattlingly good cup tie. For the most part, the crowd contributed magnificently to the atmosphere, the only exception being some boneheaded abuse of Fenlon, which overstepped the mark by some distance. At the end, the Irish manager spoke to a policeman, although he declined to comment when asked about the conversation.Instead, Fenlon focused on the resilience his players had shown in recovering from that early setback to dominate the rest of the first half and establish a 3-1 lead eventually narrowed by a wonderful strike from Cowdenbeath midfielder Jon Robertson."That first goal knocked us back a bit, but the players got on the front foot and played well," said Fenlon. "We should have scored a few more goals before half-time and made it more comfortable. The players showed character, which maybe people have doubted. They maybe had this one down as an upset, so we're delighted to go through. They dug in. It was probably a good cup tie for people to watch, unless you're a manager. But it's about getting through, that's the main thing."With their lead established through first-half goals from Leigh Griffiths and Eoin Doyle, and another after the turn from David Wotherspoon, Hibs then dozed off a little. Granted, they faced a fierce breeze in the second half, but they were also up against a home side that was no less determined to put the wind up their eminent visitors.This combination pinned back Hibs in their own half, and Fenlon also admitted his players' own anxieties had driven them into a shell. But then, they had good grounds for fearfulness after watching Robertson cut the deficit to one goal in the 69th minute.The 22-year-old Robertson lists his idols as Beckham, Scholes, Zidane and Ronaldo, any of whom would have been pleased to produce two touches as deft in the creation of his goal. The first lifted the ball over O'Hanlon; the second flicked it past Brown with the outside of his right foot."It was fantastic," purred Cameron of Robertson's effort. "That's what he's great at. He's a box-to-box player and he times his runs well. He had a fantastic first touch and he had composure with the second touch to score. He's got all the tools. Last season, I felt he was a bit negative at times in his play, so we've worked on that, tried to get him to be positive and drive forward. We're seeing the rewards. "I can see him playing at a higher level. But there are a few others in that team who have the ability. This was an opportunity to show what they are capable of and they didn't let themselves down."

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Cowdenbeath 2 Hibernian 3: Underdogs almost have their day as Fenlon gets off mark

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