Cowdenbeath cup tie with St Johnstone called off for third time

COWDENBEATH’S fourth round Scottish Cup tie against St Johnstone suffered a third postponement yesterday, and the clubs will now try to get the match played on Wednesday night.

The tie, which had been re-arranged for tonight, was called off after a referee’s inspection yesterday afternoon. Central Park has been unplayable for the past ten days and, while there was an improvement in the pitch over the weekend, areas were still frozen.

Hamilton Accies will again go for substance over style in their Scottish Cup tie at Dumbarton which looks set to go ahead at the third time of asking tonight. New Douglas Park manager, Billy Reid, is disappointed in the manner his side have been forced to play in, even though the change has brought him success as he was rewarded with Irn-Bru Phenomenal Manager of the Month for November after wins over Morton and Partick Thistle.

After a slow start to the season Reid was forced to adopt a more robust defensive approach which yielded 1-0 wins over title chasing Morton and Partick Thistle, and his side was just seven minutes away from doing the same at Falkirk until a late lapse.

Reid said: “It was good to win against two of the better sides in the league but we did it in a way I don’t want us to play. We had to set up our stall to make us hard to beat. In terms of how I want the game to be played it was terrible but we were just a few minutes away from picking up nine points from nine.”

Reid added: “We had to go down a different route to pick up points. That is where we are just now as a club. We have eight players that have been through our youth system and who have all been taught to go out and play football. They are being asked to do something different for the moment. It is all about getting the balance right between getting points on the board and being open.”

Reid is hopeful the approach will not last long. He said: “Winning games gives players confidence and we will get back to playing the way I want us to again, but when that is will be determined by the number of points we have.”

As for the Cup tie, Reid said: “With all respect to Dumbarton it is a game that I expect us to win. It is in the Cup so perhaps we can look to add a bit more attacking threat, but firstly we have to be strong defensively.”

It will be a different Accies line-up to the one Reid was considering for the First Division match between the sides at New Douglas Park that was also postponed on Saturday as two loan players, Gary Fisher and Steven May, have not been given permission to play, and a third, Jonathan Page, is suspended.

Jon Routledge and Louis Longridge have shaken off knocks and are included, as is striker Darian MacKinnon who has returned from a loan spell at Ayr.

Meanwhile, the SFL has re-arranged seven of the fixtures that fell foul of the weather at the weekend, with only a new date for the First Division meeting between Airdrie United and Falkirk yet to be decided.

The first rematch will see the top of the table Second Division clash between Alloa Athletic and Queen of the South take place tomorrow night at Recreation Park with a 7:30pm kick-off. Alloa Athletic and Queen of the South also meet tomorrow evening, while the games between Albion Rovers and Forfar Athletic, and East Fife and Stranraer, are to take place next Tuesday. Brechin City will play their rematch with Ayr United on Saturday, 22 December.