Back amongst friends

Cowdenbeath travel to play East Stirlingshire this weekend looking to secure a place in the Semi-Finals of The Ramsdens Cup and for two of their players, it will be a case of being back amongst friends.

Marc McKenzie and Jamie Stevenson will look to create the goals that will see the Fife side through against a Shire side that they both took very close to promotion to the Second Division just over two years ago.

McKenzie spent nearly four and a half years in black and white colours and whereas Stevenson’s time was shorter, it did involve three different stints at the club.

The 28-year-old began his career in the youth development programme at Aberdeen however, he was released as a youngster and he joined Alloa Athletic before getting the chance of a lifetime when he was spotted by a Real Mallorca scout when he was playing beach football on the island.  After 18 months in Spain, Stevenson returned and re-joined Alloa and he also played for Morton and East Stirlingshire before joining Airdrie United in September, 2010.

He first joined the Shire on loan and then signed for the following season before signing for a month at the start of the next campaign before becoming a Diamond.

Stevenson is looking forward to going back to his old club saying: “Ever since I went there on loan, I was treated well.  Whilst a lot has changed since I left just over two years ago, it is still a great wee club.  I would think that both Marc and I would get a good reception as the fans were always great to us when we played there.

“The fans there are real fans as no matter what the score was, or indeed what the weather was, or what ground we were at, they were always singing and dancing.  It could be a bit surreal at times but they are a memorable bunch.”

Stevenson added: “I was delighted to see our former Kit Man, Robert Jack, becoming the Honorary President of the club and it is always good to see the Club Secretary, Tadek Kopszywa, who has been involved with them for years.

“When I was there under Jim McInally, we had a strong squad and made the Play-Offs but unfortunately, we did not do ourselves justice against Forfar in the Semi-Finals.  Livingston had been demoted into the Third Division and we were in second place for most of the season and you can’t help but wonder what would have happened had they had not been in our division.”

Stevenson joined his former boss at Morton, McInally, at the Shire in February, 2009, before signing permanently in the summer of 2010 and leaving at the end of his one year deal before briefly appearing again as he explained: “I was meant to be joining a club in Malta but that deal fell through so I went back to the Shire and played four times.  That led to me joining Airdrie in the Second Division.”

The cup tie with his former club gives Stevenson the chance to reach the Semi-Finals of The Ramsdens Cup for a second time in his career as he explained: “When I was at Morton working with Jim, we made it to the Semi-Final stages but lost out.  You go out and look to win every game you play in and it would be great to win this one as it gives us a lot to look forward to.

“We have hit a wee bit of form in the League and got through to this round after a good win over East Fife.  That was a terrific win as it came just a few days after we got thumped 4-0 by Dunfermline at home at the start of the First Division so it was very welcome.”

Stevenson was the star of the show that night as he scored two and made the other goal (watch on sfl.tv) and he said: “We had been playing well in the first half but could not score until right on the whistle when I scored with a free kick. Kyle Miller got his head on a corner to make it two and I was fortunate to score from the edge of the box to make it three.

“That game gave us a lot of belief and we have built on it since in the First Division.  Hopefully, we can build on it again against the Shire.”