Dowie: We Must Build On Win

Andy Dowie may have one of the most experienced heads in the Braves dressing room, but he showed on Saturday he also has one of the coolest – finishing nicely at the back-post to score the game-winning goal against Cumbernauld Colts.
 
“[I’m] delighted,” Andy told BravesTV after the game. “The goal’s a nice bonus but obviously the victory was much needed. We thoroughly deserved it today, the way we played. Hopefully we can build on that now.”
 
The centre-back has been nearly ever-present for the Braves so far in their tumultuous season. After a quarter of the year gone, they sit fourth-bottom and are looking to catch up with the pace-setters.
 
“It was solid and it was great for the back four, the whole team and the new goalkeeper coming in, that we managed to keep a clean sheet because it’s the first in a while. If we want to have a successful season we need to be doing things like that.”
 
It was the Braves first win in four attempts, as Ricky Waddell changed to a back-four with Alan Reid partnering ‘Dowser’ at the back. The former Dunfermline defender has also paired up with summer signing Scott Forrester, as well as youngsters Dom Slattery and Jack McDowall.
 
“Obviously, Reidy and myself have got bags of experience – maybe lack a bit of pace now in our older age but we know how to deal with that!”
 
The win doesn’t boost the Braves up the table quite yet, but it certainly boosted morale in the away dressing room at Broadwood.
 
“It’s night and day. The boys are in there with a smile on their face. As I say, it has been a while.
 
“It’s a fantastic feeling to win a game of football and unfortunately we’ve not experienced that enough this season. We’ve been really disappointed but we must kick on now.”
 
With a career that spans two decades, Bellshill-born ‘Dowser’ thought he had seen it all – and following a global pandemic, he admits he probably has.
 
“It’s a bit of a nightmare, really. To be fair, it’s not too different for the players. You come in and get changed, maybe that’s a bit different, but we still go out and play football.
 
“It’s the guys like Ross [Anderson, club physio] who’s getting the hardest time – he needs to deal with temperature checks and telling the guys where to sit, and all the rest of it. The players are least affected at a football club I would say, so we can’t complain too much!”