Updated: Gala Fairydean Rovers get new Scottish Lowland Football League East season off to winning start at Cowdenbeath but lose out in midweek

A 27th-minute Che Reilly goal past home No 1 Dion Gear in his 90th game for Gala was all that separated the two sides at the weekend but that was enough to send manager Martin Scott’s Keaghan Jacobs-skippered Borderers back down the road from Fife to Galashiels three points to the good.

That was Fairydean’s first win against the Fifers since a 2-1 away victory in July 2022, ending a seven-match winless streak made up of four defeats and three draws.

It also continued Cowdenbeath’s record of failing to win an opening-day fixture since dropping down to Scottish football’s fifth tier in 2022.

Making up the rest of the visitors’ starting line-up were Reece Murray in goal, Greg Macpherson, Liam Fagan, Lewis Hall, Ethan Dougal, McKenzye Campbell, Jared Lyons, Daniel Strickland and Tylar Denholm, with David Chalmers, Arnault Kasa, Danny Galbraith, Zack Tomany, James Clare and Jamie Green on the bench.

Scott, 40, was delighted to see his side notch up a fifth win on the bounce after four in pre-season friendlies, taking them to 11 games since their last loss, saying: “In the first half, I thought we were exceptional in possession of the ball.

“If we’d been a wee bit more composed in the final third, we possibly could have scored a few more goals, so that’s certainly something to work towards.

“I was really impressed with our resilience and determination. Yes, everyone will aspire to improve but it’s a fantastic start for us and we’ve carried momentum on from pre-season into the first game of the season, so I’m really happy.

“The dynamics of the group are really good – the youthful energy we’ve got in our players in forward areas really complements the senior ones with more experience at this level. Aligned with that, the players we’ve had for a number of years now are improving and making better decisions and thinking about the game and implementing the game-plan.

“All in all, it was a really positive day for us.”

Scott’s opposite number Paul McLean conceded that Fairydean deserved their victory, saying: “I thought the better team won by far.

“I’ve got no qualms about the result. We were never at the races. We need to be so much better.

“We were lucky that it was only 1-0.”

Fairydean, captained by Galbraith, were back on the road on Tuesday, to West Lothian, and got within a matter of moments of adding a point to the three they collected at the weekend only to be denied by a 92nd-minute Errol Douglas penalty for Broxburn past Murray.

Also starting for Rovers were Macpherson, Fagan, Kasa, Jacobs, Hall, Reilly, Dougal, Lyons and Strickland, with Chalmers, Tomany, Clare and Ross and Gregor Lamb as sustitutes.

Gala play their first home game of the new term against Bo’ness United this coming Saturday, with kick-off at Netherdale Stadium at 3pm, and they go on to host Edinburgh Community in round two of this season’s East of Scotland Qualifying Cup next Wednesday at 7.45pm.