Stenhousemuir 1-0 Cowdenbeath

Aug 31 2008 Kristian Truelsen

HONEST John Coughlin admits Stenny stole the points - but says his side have resilience in spades.

Cowden hogged possession and hemmed Warriors in their own half for long periods until Kevin Motion stunned them with a late winner.

And Coughlin confessed: "Cowdenbeath can count themselves very unlucky.

"They were brighter than us and passed the ball better than we did in the first half.

"I was just happy to go in at half-time all square. I am not happy with the way we are performing but we have to take positives.

"There's a resilience about this side and we're top of the league.

"I know there's more to come - it's up to us now to improve our performances."

Warriors leapfrogged the Blue Brazil into pole position - but Cowden controlled much of the game and made a bright start.

John Gemmell's bulleted headerwas well saved by Stenny No.1Keiron Renton - then the Fifers' ace had the ball in the net before it was ruled offside.

Paul McQuade fired into the side netting and Brian Fairbairn kept up the Cowden pressure with a spectacular 25-yard drive in 16 minutes that smacked against Renton's bar.

Even losing midfielder Marek Tomana in 27 minutes failed to dampen down the Blue Brazil's desire.

The Slovakian was carted off after a horror clash with Willie Lyle and replaced by Mark Ramsay.

Cowden started the second-half as they finished the first - and Gemmell went close twice.

First his long-range snapshot flew just over then he raced through on his own but Renton was off his line to block with a fine reaction save.

It took an hour before Stenny carved a decent chance.

Scott Dalziel's flick header flew well wide - then Chris McGroarty's stinging drive finally forced a save from Cowden keeper David Hay.

The game looked like a stalemate until Warriors stunned the visitors. Motion rattled the ball past Hay after Iain Thomson's superb defence-splitting pass.

Cowden boss Danny Lennon was gutted: "I'm disappointed. It's obvious we lack a cutting edge up front."