Lewis Milne is hoping for two birthday presents this Saturday when he turns 20.
The Blue Brazil midfielder is hoping to help his side to a win in the Fife Derby at Raith Rovers and then walk off Stark’s Park to hear that Alloa have lost to Dundee.
The Central Park side remain favourites to be in the relegation Play-Off spot come the end of the season however if Milne gets both his birthday wishes they will head into the final weekend just one point behind the Wasps.
Milne said: “A win for Cowdenbeath and a defeat for Alloa would make my birthday a terrific day. It would set us up really well for the final weekend of the season however we know that winning at Stark’s Park will be hard.”
“The last game at their place was 3-3 but we know that we have to go one better this time. My pal is Greig Spence and he scored a hat-trick when they beat us 4-3 earlier in the season and that included two last minute penalties.”
“He has mentioned that a few times but we have beaten them as well this season and hopefully will again.”
A win may still not be enough if Alloa defeat Paul Hartley’s side however Milne is only thinking positively as he said: “No-one at Cowdenbeath is talking about the Play-Offs as we are not allowing negative thoughts. We will look to win on Saturday and hopefully I can enjoy my birthday in style.”
The Blue Brazil go into the game in good heart after a fine win last weekend with Milne saying: “Beating Livingston 4-0 was a brilliant win and was just what we needed. We will take the confidence from that into the next couple of crucial games. Our skipper John Armstrong got the Man of the Match and he deserved it as he led by example and scored two goals which is pretty good going for a centre back.”
“He is a big figure at our club and I see how good a player he is pretty close up as I play just in front of him. He has lots of experience and is a player that you can learn from.”
Milne is very much one for learning, so much so that he once played football for four teams as he was getting to grips with the game.
“I started off at Leith Athletic in Edinburgh however I moved to live in Dunfermline when I was 8 and for a while I was playing with 4 clubs,” said Milne before adding: “I would travel back to Edinburgh to play with Leith and Hibs and then stay in Fife to play with Civil Service in Rosyth and Dunfermline.”
“Every day of the week was football however the travelling for it was getting too much so I ended up just concentrating on Civil Service and Dunfermline.”
Milne added: “I joined the Pars when I was 10 and I played there for a year until Hearts spotted me. I was asked to join their Youth set-up at Heriot-Watt University and I was delighted to do so. That was a different world compared to anything I had seen before as the facilities there were tremendous.”
“I played with them for 3 years however I felt that I was getting turned into a right back which I did not enjoy so I went back to join Dunfermline as a midfielder.”
A short trip across Fife has helped Milne turn into a professional as he explained: “After a spell at East End Park I joined Cowdenbeath as a full time player when I was 16. It was great that my first full season at Central Park was spent in the First Division.”
“Jimmy Nicholl was the manager then with Colin Cameron his assistant and they put me on the bench against Clyde in a League Cup tie early in the season. They told me that if Cowdenbeath were winning 2-0 with a few minutes to go I would make my debut.”
“We were 2-0 down early on so it never happened then.”
Milne got full time football that season as he explained: “I did play in the First Division up at Ross County in a game that they won 3-0. They had just secured their safety in the league and there was a big crowd at the game so it was a mixed experience for me.”
“We went down in the Play-Offs at the end of that season after losing to Brechin in the Semi-Finals. Jimmy Nicholl left for Kilmarnock and Colin Cameron took over as manager.”
Cameron’s promotion however was bad news for Milne as he explained: “Colin was also still a player and he kept me out of the team. I only got a few games that season as I played in the same position as him. He wanted his experience on the pitch to help us bounce straight back up and it was hard to argue as it worked.”
“He was another great player to learn from. Colin had played for Scotland, remains a legend at Hearts and scored goals in the English Premiership. You cannot fail to take tips from him.”
Milne started establishing himself as a regular in the second half of last season after an up and down experience as he explained: “Our first season back in the First Division was a bit of a rollercoaster. We started off not too badly and I scored my first goal that got us a point at Livingston.”
“However we went on a horrible run where we never won in 16 games. That took us from before Christmas to after it. Confidence was getting low however the Chairman organised a trip for us to a Manchester United and Southampton game to help lift the spirits and it worked.”
“On the coach there the manager asked to have a chat with me and he told me that I was going to be starting more games in a holding midfield role.”
The up and down nature did continue with Milne saying: “The club then brought Jon Robertson on loan back from St. Mirren and I was not sure how things were going to work. The manager told the two of us that we would be playing and we did.”
“We beat Falkirk 4-1 in our first game and then followed that up with a 4-2 success over Dunfermline. That was a great night for me to score against my old club and also to get the man of the match award.”
“My ball broke to me at the edge of the box and I shot or sclaffed it home.”
The chance to survive increased as Dunfermline entered administration and suffered a 15 point deduction as a penalty with Milne saying: “They had their money troubles at that time and we got closer to them in the league. We knew that we had to win on the last day at Hamilton Accies to have any chance of avoiding the Play-Offs.”
“I was knocked out in the first half and was taken off when we reached the break at 1-0. I had to watch the second half from the bench and I was thinking that it was going to be impossible to do so but I was glad that we did as we won 3-1. Airdrie defeated Dunfermline so we got to the safety of eighth place on that last afternoon which was great.”
This season has also been inconsistent with Milne saying: “We have been up and down this season as well. The old gaffer came back in and we got a lift from that and started picking up decent results. We were doing well away from home and then in February we never lost a game and that included wins over Dundee and Hamilton.”
“Just as we were thinking that if we can keep this up we will be safe we went on another run of not winning games before beating Morton 3-0.”
“We are now left looking to win these two games and hoping that Alloa lose.”
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