Cowdenbeath survived in the Football League by the skin of their teeth for the second season in succession after beating Cove Rangers in a relegation play-off.
It has been a tough few years for the Blue Brazil and the 2017/18 campaign was no different as they made a desperate start to the season under head coach Billy Brown. He had lost several influential players during the summer and relied on a young squad that looked ill-equipped for life in League Two.
They spent all-but the first five weeks of the season rooted to the bottom of the table. One win in the opening ten league games saw Brown resign at the beginning of November and the experienced Gary Bollan was announced as a successor.
Despite overseeing an improvement in performances, it took 15 matches before he tasted his first victory, by which stage they had been cut adrift. Two more victories followed but they eventually finished eight points adrift at the bottom.
He managed to find a settled starting XI which was built upon the experience of goalkeeper David McGurn, the versatile Fraser Mullen and the creativity of Kyle Miller. He added to it with the experience of defender Bryan Gilfillan and striker David Cox and the talent of young loanee Blair Malcolm from Ross County.
20-year-old wing-back Harvey Swann and midfielder Bradley Smith both enjoyed breakthrough seasons. Swann was voted as player-of-the-year before scoring a crucial brace in the 3-2 aggregate win over Cove Rangers in a nerve-wracking play-off.
Striker Robbie Buchanan finished as leading goalscorer with seven goals although the Blue Brazil only scored 23 goals in their 36 league games and that will be a priority for Bollan as he looks to turn the club’s fortunes around this summer.
