Braveheart Defending.

A team is a squad of players that come together to work for success. Only those performances on the field will make the decision about whether or not success is achieved. Every game has a beginning, middle and end. It starts with 11 players who cross over a white line with courage, pride and most importantly belief in themselves and fellow teammates. Tonight was another special night at Central Park as it had a little feeling of dejavu. You could say it was almost a replay of the fife cup, but this time we only had 90 minutes to take care of business. Perfect weather conditions for any match in my opinion, some keepers hate it others don't. When I was younger I remember telling my mom that I loved the weather this country had to offer and that I hoped one day I'd get a chance to play here. Some people wouldn't say tonights match is special, but every time I play Raith it is. A little story behind the story, when I came over to Scotland looking for my chance to play professional fooball the idea was to train with Raith during the day while trying to find a team at the same time. My first week was filled with bad news as they wouldn't allow me to come out at all. Little did I know our paths would cross again, but before every game we meet I think about that feeling of rejection. It reminds me that apparently I was just a Canadian who wasn't good enough, according to them. It didn't take long for my side to find the net in the first half. We played well as a unit keeping good shape in the back during the first half. At halftime the coach gave positive encouragement about how the players had performed over the first 45 minutes. He warned them about the second half to keep the level of play up and to not let down just because a couple good things have been said within those walls. Raith realized they had a bit of work ahead of them for the next 45 minutes. Getting the equalizer was the first thing on their list. Towards the last half of the match the pressure increased as the ball was mostly played in our end. Multiple corners and solid defending as a team kept the clean sheet alive. This was a good match to be a part of, one reason being our team won and kept a clean sheet, but it also put me 2-0 up on Raith as far as head to head. As we gathered in the changeroom after the match the coach talked to us about the game. It was clear that on a weekly base we can't afford to defend like that for the last part of the game. A solid team effort in the end, which was titled "Braveheart Defending." The full time whistle went, hand shake were made and both sides found themselves crossing over that white line again, this time they knew the result of the game.

Cowdenbeath 1-0 Raith Rovers (Reserve Match)

The Test.

The big games are always the most important ones during the development of a successful season. You can learn a lot from these matches, no matter what the result is. Today Stirling Albion was coming to Central Park, where the guys were ready for a tough match. You could feel the excitement and energy in the changeroom before going out for warm ups because everyone knew today we had to be at our best as individuals and most importantly as a team. Excitement came early on in the match when our team went ahead 1-0. The tempo for the first 20 minutes was intense. Players were getting stuck in on every challenge whether it was in the air or on the ground. Passes were being connected and to be honest, I felt comfortable with how the team was playing on the pitch. The wind was in Albions advantage in the first half, with a punt from the keepers hands, the ball travelled down the field to cause problems in the back resulting in Albions first goal. Our team lost its tempo from that point on and allowed the other team back into the game. Just before the half Albion found the go ahead goal, which little did we know at the time would be the winning goal. My teammates learned a lot about our team today, but this is only the start. The character of the players showed today and the coaches will have made mental notes about that, the real test will be about how we bounce back next weekend. Do we let this bring us down and call it a season or do we keep our heads high and push to get back up the table. I think we have what it takes, but it's a team game. Next week will be another chapter to this story, but from what I saw today, we have every possibility to be successful in this league. Some people will say we failed todays test, I disagree as the real test lies within each player in that dressing room today. We've seen the top to the bottom, now we just need to get at them all and take our points with each match we play.

Cowdenbeath FC 1-2 Stirling Albion

Victory or Defeat

Football... The game that brings people from around the world together. It's about hopes, dreams and glory. It's a team game where players who are passionate play with their emotions from time to time and can taste love and hate in 90 minutes. It can take you to the top or leave you sitting on the bottom with an empty heart of frustration. When people think about the game, they think about the sold out crowd in the huge stadium; the players who walk out onto the field and instantly become a childhood hero for young children all over the world. It's all picture perfect and seems like these people live in a fantasy world. What they don't know about these players is what they did to get there. What they had to sacrifice in order to have one shot at the dream of a lifetime. In the beginning of my tale a ball brought smiles and joy. At the moment I'm finding the opposite, on and off the field. My team is a part time professional club in the lower divisions of Scottish football. I'm an average Joe by day, footballer by night, on Tuesday, Thursday and game day on Saturdays.



Today the reserve side matched up against East Fife's reserve side, where we ended up losing 3-2. I was disappointed in the result obviously because I'm not even a fan of letting in 1 goal, who can blame me I'm a keeper. I felt the frustrations off the field beat me up a little bit mentally, as I want to continue along this path to see where it takes me.If you have fear, you have to face it, find a way to defeat it. Tomorrow is another chase, with a different reason. It's something I have to do in order to give myself that chance to achieve something most people only get when they close their eyes at night. Who knew this story would truly be about getting so close to the end before it really started? Luck will change because I am a believer...plus it's only a finger tip away.

Cowdenbeath 2-3 East Fife (Reserve Match)

A Little Ambition....

On the bus we got to make our way out to Dumbarton for this weekends match. The lads knew it was an important match to take three points, as it would push our squad up the table. Dumbarton came out looking a little flat and were exposed at the back on a few occasions early into the match. We went into the changeroom 2-0 up and the message from the coach was to not let down. The second half was more memorable for the 25 yard strike that put our team up 3-0. As the whistle blew for full time we knew that we made some kind of gains in the table. When we gathered for post match eats, the team found out we jumped from 8th position in the table to 5th. It's still very early in the season but we're closer to the top of the table now and it's still very tight within the whole league. A win alone can push a team up a couple spots. So now there is a little excitement to do well because the thought of division 1 football is in the back of everyone's minds as well as the taste of success. Plenty of hard work to get through first, as the season is still young.

Cowdenbeath FC 3-0 Dumbarton

(Ross County Stadium)

Earlier on in the week the reserve side had a match out in Ross County where we went down 2-0 by halftime. This was a game of two halfs, I felt that we had a couple chances that could have turned the game around if we had put them away in the first half. The second half was a better performance as the team found better shape and played more like a unit. As we all know you have to show up to play 90 plus minutes, no matter how long bus drive is before the game. This upcoming Tuesday the reserve side will see East Fife at our grounds for a 730pm kickoff.

Cowdenbeath 0-2 Ross County (Reserve Match)

The First 3.

A new team, a new league, a new country, but most importantly a new opportunity to grow as a goalkeeper and person. Many things have happened on my journey to get this far, they will only make me stronger to carry me further as this is only the begining. Today Clyde FC was our challenge at Central Park, they have been off to a slow start this season finding themselves near the bottom of the table as well. My teammates and staff have been keeping very positive over the past couple of weeks knowing that the first 3 points were just around the corner. The weather was unreal for Scottish tradition, looked like a perfect summers day in Canada. We ended up going up 1-0 before the halftime. The team knew that the 3 points were ours for the taking depending on how we performed in the second half. The game was a little scrappy from time to time, but that's how the game goes sometimes. I was glad to see the team play through the full 90 minutes to clinch the first win of the season, definately lifts a heavy load from our backs and gives the fans what they deserve. Although I didn't play any minutes today this week has been another important one for me. I've been settling in with my new club this week a little more and starting to talk a bit more with some of the guys. They're all very easy to get along with and some tend to be quite the character from time to time. We tend to be quite the young side but I feel there is a tight bond, which will help the squad as the season progresses. Although my bum was sore from sitting on the bench today, I felt a part of the team in its first victory of the season. Next weekend we take a road trip to Dumbarton and another chance to travel up the table!

Final: Cowdenbeath FC 1-0 Clyde FC

A Childhood Dream, a Professional Save.

Every child who dreams about the game begins their dream by visualizing themselves walking out of the tunnel. They picture themselves playing for their favourite team in the whole wide world and as they run out onto the fresh cut pitch, they hear the thundering roar of the crowd and that's where the emotions end. The other night my dream came true infront of 185 fans, on a perfect night for Scotlands reputation of wind and rain. It was the Fife cup semi finals and Raith Rovers came to our park for the match. I felt good in the warm up taking in some skipping balls to adjust to the weather conditions of Scotland. I feel sorry for the person who had to wash the white track top as a result from the warmup, white's usually not the choice of colour for keepers. The team gathered in the changeroom before the kickoff and it was clear what the message was on that day. All we had to do was go out there and enjoy it, take advantage of our opportunity to show our coach that we can play and deserve a spot in the starting 11. Through the tunnel, past the fence and over the race car track to the pitch, which was perfect for play. During the first half it felt like most of the pressure was in our end with a couple opportunities to get a strike on Rovers goal as well. Raith scored just a few moments before half time with a strike from 20 yards out to the backside of the net through traffic. Once the ref blew his whistle I was curious to see how the guys would react in the second half. The second half showed the team's character as we battled back together, everyone was doing their job. We managed to equalize with just a few minutes before full time, on a cracking goal driven to the back post! The match had ended not to much after that and we headed straight into penalties. Raith took the first kick and managed to sneak it by. I was thankful that all my teammates hit the target and did well to make it very difficult for the Rovers keeper by putting a lot of pace on the shot. Raith found themselves in a position having to score in order to continue on. The striker stepped up to the spot to do his part. I on the other hand was feeling pretty good because all the pressure was on him and for a keeper to make any sort of save in penalties could make him the hero. He placed his kick to my right and as I made motion to dive to my right I knew I had the save made before my hands got to the ball. There's something special about going the right direction as the shot in pk's because you have all the opportunity to make the save, probably one of the best feelings in penaltys. The team managed to put Raith Rovers out of the Fife Cup, which was a good result for us as they are one division higher then us. I was happy with how the team played as a unit and despite going a goal down in the first half they never gave up. A few of the boys picked up some bad knocks after the match but we worked hard for one another. It was definately a good game to have my first experience with Scottish football and I'm definately looking forward to spending more time on the field with the lads. There's not too many pros that can say their first game involved penalty kicks.

Final Score: Cowdenbeath 1-1 Raith Rovers (4-3 pks) (Fife Cup)

Cam