— Upcoming fixtures
H Sat 11th Sept, 2021 Cove Rangers v Montrose cinch League One
A Sat 18th Sept, 2021 Peterhead v Cove Rangers cinch League One
H Sat 25th Sept, 2021 Cove Rangers v Airdrieonians cinch League One
A Sat 2nd Oct, 2021 Alloa Athletic v Cove Rangers cinch League One
— League table
Cove Rangers FC
Balmoral Stadium
Wellington Circle, Altens
Aberdeen, AB12 3JG
Honorary President
Alan McRae
Directors
Keith Moorhouse - Chairman
Graeme Reid - Vice Chairman/Financial Controller
Duncan Little - Secretary/Stadium Manager
John Sheran - Director of Football
Darren Anderson
Grant Moorhouse
Safety Officers
John Morgan & Bill Ogilvie
Committee
Michael Coull, Richard Forbes & Gordon Taylor
Football Manager - Paul Hartley
Assistant Manager - Gordon Young
Fitness Coach - Tam Ritchie
Goalkeeping Coach - Derek Soutar
Head of Youth Development - Gary Hake
Performance Analyst - Ryan Docherty
Physios - Donal Gallacher & Eilidh McGregor
Kit Manager - Adrian Thomson
Club Doctor - David Fowler
Commercial Manager - Angela Bruce
Media Officer - Charlie Allan
Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer - Kate Dean
Club Chaplain - Dougie Simpson
Club Photographers - Dave Cowe, Richard Forbes
cinch League One
Saturday August 28th @ Broadwood Stadium
CLYDE 2 COVE RANGERS 1
points go sailing down the clyde
Two first half strikes from Clyde captain David Goodwillie were enough to give them victory in our cinch League One clash at Broadwood Stadium.
Cove Rangers were unfortunate not to be two up before former Aberdeen and Dundee United striker Goodwillie cashed-in on some slack play to put the Bully Wee in a commanding position by the interval.
Cove Rangers then launched waves of attacks on the Clyde goal, but had to wait until the latter stages before Rory McAllister pulled a goal back, from the penalty spot.
Substitute Leighton McIntosh then saw a deflected shot rebound to safety off the face of the Clyde bar and we should have been awarded a second spot-kick when Mitch Megginson was kicked during what ended up being eight minutes of injury-time.
The home side held out though to claim all three points as we paid a heavy price for those first half lapses. Harry Milne, Shay Logan and Fraser Fyvie were among a batch of players ruled out by injuries and illness.
That meant a first start for summer signing Jevan Anderson, although it also meant we were only able to name two outfield players, Jamie Masson and Leighton McIntosh, on the bench.
We went for it from the off and were unfortunate not to go ahead twice within the opening minute.
The first chance came when Rory McAllister played a one-two with Robbie Leitch then saw his close-range shot bundled behind for a corner.
Iain Vigurs then fired a corner over from the left and Anderson saw his net-bound header cleared off the line by a home defender.
Despite our good start it was Clyde who took a seventh minute lead, when GOODWILLIE was given too much space to break clear from half-way and he advanced to calmly slot the ball beyond Kyle Gourlay from the edge of the area.
—
A sweeping passing move forward ended with McAllister’s low cross from the left being touched away by a defender before Megginson could tap home from inside the six-yard box.
We were finally rewarded when the referee awarded us a penalty for Rumsby’s foul on McAllister in the 83rd minute.
MCALLISTER took the kick and netted in style from the spot for the third game in a row.
Clyde hung on for dear life after that. Masson cut open their defence in the 87th minute with a pass to Megginson, but his low eight-yard shot was saved by Bradley-Hurst.
McIntosh then saw his shot, from a tight angle on the right, deflected by home defender Matthew Elsdon and rebound to safety off the face of the crossbar.
Elsdon was then sent off, in the 94th minute, for pulling McAllister back when he was clear through on goal.
Masson took the free-kick, but his effort went over the crossbar.
Megginson was furious when the referee ignored his claims for a penalty after the striker appeared to be kicked by Billy Mortimer just inside the Clyde area deep into injury-time.
Clyde had time to make another late change, when Rumsby was forced to go off after suffer concussion in a collision with his own keeper, before the referee brought a dramatic second half to an end.
Clyde: Bradley-Hurst, Elsdon, Cunningham, Rumsby (Docherty 92), Kennedy (Trialist 81), Gomis, Nicoll (Splaine 88), Goodwillie, Balatoni, Munro (Mortimer 77), Livingston.
Subs: Trialist, Andrew, Jones.
Cove Rangers: Gourlay, Neill, Scully, Ross, Strachan, Yule, Megginson, McAllister, Anderson (Masson 61), Vigurs, Leitch (McIntosh 75).
Subs: McKenzie.
Referee: Grant Irvine.
At the SPFL Trust we believe in the power of
And when we say football, we mean communities across Scotland who love the game, their club, the routine it represents.
Many are desperate to help their community and club to be successful. You can be part of that.
What will you do?
— Clyde Reaction
Manager Paul Hartley and club captain Mitch Megginson spoke to the media after our 2-1 defeat by Clyde in our cinch League One clash at Broadwood Stadium.
Paul said: “I’m bitterly disappointed we lost the game. You can’t be giving away the goals we conceded, especially against Goodwillie (Clyde captain David, who netted twice in the first half).
We spoke about him before the game, we showed them (the Cove players) what he’s good at, but we gave him soft goals. We made mistakes, which happens, but I thought it was a good reaction from us in the second half. We controlled it and had something like 25 attempts at goal, but just couldn’t get a good break.
It was really good stuff, but you’ve got to keep the back door shut, especially with Goodwillie about. Give him opportunities and he will use them because he’s very clinical, one of the best strikers in the league. We didn’t cope well enough with him on the day.
You have to be strong, as a team, away from home. We had players missing but there is no chance of us using that as an excuse. We had good enough team on the pitch and subs. It doesn’t help when players are missing, but we can still do a lot better. This is an unforgiving league, you have to be on your game every week.”
Paul praised young defender Jevan Anderson, who impressed in what was his first start for the club – at left-back – although he was forced to go off injured after suffering an ankle injury during the second half.
Paul said: “He did well in what was a little bit of a different position for him, he’s more of a central defender. He could even have scored, but then went over on his ankle. We will get that x-rayed before we know how bad the injury is but hopefully Jevan will be okay.”
Mitch said: “We controlled the game and created numerous chances, but you can’t gift one of the best strikers in the league the sort of chances we did.
If you do he’s going to punish you and suddenly you have given yourself a mountain to climb. We keep conceding soft goals, especially away from home, so we need to stop that.
We aren’t going to score two or three every week, so we need to get back to where we can maybe go away and come back with a 1-0 win. We have shown we can do that, we had the most clean sheets in our division the previous two seasons.
We’ve taken pride from having one of the best defensive records in the whole of the SPFL and accept we need to get back to those sort of standards.
Despite losing the two goals, it was a game we could still have won. It was one of those days when we just didn’t get a break.
Scott (Ross) had a header that bounced off me as it was going into goal and Jevan (Anderson) had a one that was cleared off the line. Unfortunately that happens in football, there are occasions when it just doesn’t fall kindly for you.
The positive thing is we are at least creating plenty of chances and one day they will all go in.”
As we kick-off our SPFL Trust Trophy campaign against Stenhousemuir this afternoon we asked striker Rory McAllister to share his thoughts on playing on the competition … and look back on the day he played in the final - against Rangers - in front of a full house at Hampden Park.
How much do you enjoy competing in the SPFL Trust Trophy?
You are in the game to win things. League titles are always the ones you want most but you also enjoy the excitement of doing well in the cups. When you play for a lower division side you accept it’s difficult to do that in the Scottish Cup or League Cup, this competition offers the best opportunity to get to a final and maybe collect a bit of silverware.
It’s still a tough ask because most of the sides in the Championship are full-time and the list of winners is dominated by teams from that division. You have to go in with a positive attitude though. You must look to give every game your best and see where that takes you to.
What are you expecting from this afternoon’s meeting with the Warriors?
A very difficult 90 minutes. Because we are in the division above - and playing at home - a lot of people will be looking on us as the favourites to get to the next round. I’ve been in the game long enough to know things aren’t always as clear-cut as that in cup ties.
Stenhousemuir have been a bit of a yo-yo side as far as their league position has gone in recent seasons. But they are a club with a proud history of doing well in the cups, I doubt if anyone in the northeast will ever forget their Scottish Cup victory over Aberdeen a few years ago. They have also added well to their squad over the summer.
This is going to be a proper cup tie and we will need to be at it from the off if we are to be the ones who progress.
— Rory McAllister interview
You made it all the way to the final in 2016 with Peterhead what was that like?
Absolutely amazing! What we did that year gives hope to every League One side taking part this time around. It shows what can be done if you show enough belief and are willing to work hard enough.
You played Rangers at Hampden Park, in front of a crowd of 48,000, what are your memories of that day?
Rangers beat us 4-0 but we were proud of how we did against them that day. It was only 1-0 when I cut the ball across and Jordan Brown only just failed to get his studs to it and knock it in. If we had drawn level it might have been totally different.
It was still a marvellous experience to play in front of a capacity crowd at the national stadium against a Rangers side that was very much on the up. They won the Championship that season as well, which gives you an idea of the sort of quality we were up against.
I would love it if I got the chance to play in a final again with Cove Rangers. It’s why I signed for the club. Cove have never hidden their ambitions to compete at higher levels and for trophies. I’m ambitious too and believe I still have a good bit left in me.
I would love to get past the 300 goal mark in my career (Rory has netted 278 times to date) and maybe enjoy one more really big day out. I might not do either, but it won’t be for the want of trying.
You also hit the headlines by scoring all five goals in a victory over Falkirk in the earlier rounds, what was that like?
It was one of the most memorable days of my career, right up there with when I scored the winning goal for Peterhead at Ibrox. I had scored five in a game before, in the Scottish Cup against a lower level side who had done well to qualify that year. But scoring five away to Falkirk, a full-time club, was a bit special. It was just one of those days when everything I seemed to hit found the net.
I also scored when we won at home to Stenhousemuir in the next round, hopefully that’s a good omen as we prepare to face them again today!
START PLAYING.
Rip-roaring power. Spellbinding control. Jaw-dropping accuracy. The new Mitre Delta Max SPFL. Prepare to mesmerise.
PAUL HARTLEY
We can be sure of one thing this afternoon, we are in for a very challenging start to our SPFL Trust Trophy campaign.
We had Stenhousemuir watched in their last two games and are well aware of the threat they pose to our chances of advancing in the competition. The players know only our very best will do if we are to have any hope of coming out on top.
In normal circumstances, we would look on cup ties as an opportunity to give players who haven’t played so many minutes in the league a run-out. But this season has been far from normal.
We are simply not in the position to do that because injuriesand having to deal with Covid issues - means we are virtually living day by day until we find out who is going to be available. Its the same for every club, with some suffering even more than we have on occasion.
Some games have been called off and when I see some of the team-lines from the games that were played it’s clear most managers are having to work hard to simply put a side out. It’s got to the stage where you are hoping your phone doesn’t ring on a Friday night or Saturday morning because it could mean having to make late changes to your plans.
HARTLEY
— View from the dugout
No matter what happens, we will be putting the strongest side possible out this afternoon in the hope that it will be good enough to get us the win we all want.
We will be looking to recover from losing 2-1 away to Clyde last weekend in the league. I was extremely disappointed with the result, but not with our performance. We played really well for the bulk of the game and created a lot of chances.
Unfortunately, if you don’t defend properly in certain situations then you won’t win games, and that’s what happened. The players don’t need me to tell them that is a part of our game that is going to have to improve.
One huge positive since my last column is the fact we have been able to welcome Jamie Masson back from his long lay-off through injury. Jamie is a big player for us, so it has been good to get him some minutes on the pitch. He has been training very hard too and it shouldn’t be too long before we see Jamie back at his very best.
The return of Jamie has been countered by the loss of Jevan Anderson, because of an ankle injury. Jevan made his first start against Clyde and did very well. He could have scored a couple of goals and looked comfortable, despite being asked to play in a defensive position that is unusual to him.
It’s really unfortunate he then hurt his ankle, which means we will now be without him for a spell. Jevan will be back though and will have an important part to play as we move through the season.
Stay safe and enjoy the game.
Paul Hartley
“I was extremely disappointed with the result, but not with our performance.”
MANAGEMENT
GOALKEEPERS
DEFENDERS
SPONSORSHIP
Stuart McKenzie
Paul Hartley
Gordon Young
Harry Milne
Ryan Strachan
Shay Logan
Jevan Anderson
Morgyn Neill
Kyle Gourlay
Scott Ross
FORWARDS
MIDFIELDERS
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Blair Yule
Jamie Masson
Fraser Fyvie
Iain Vigurs
Ross Draper
Robbie Leitch
Connor Scully
Rory McAllister
— Season 2021/22 statistics
CAPTAIN’S WEIV
“We are all excited by the prospect of beginning our SPFL Trust Trophy campaign against Stenhousemuir this afternoon.”
The competition gives teams outside the Premiership an opportunity to enjoy a decent cup run.
Not that we will be taking anything for granted against The Warriors. They will be coming here looking to upset our plans and we will need to deliver a top-class performance to cope with them. The fact they are in the division below us means, for once, we could be seen as the favourites to progress.
Having been in Stenhousemuir’s position with Cove Rangers on numerous occasions in the past, I know how much of an added incentive that can be.
It’s a very dangerous tie for us, but one we can come through if we go about our business in the right manner.
We are also eager to bounce back from the disappointment of losing away to Clyde in the league last weekend. We are not a team that likes losing and have tended to respond to any defeats that we have suffered in the proper manner. Hopefully that will be the case again.
There were still positives for us in the Clyde game. We played some good football and created more than enough chances to win the match.
— Captain’s view
>>> Unfortunately, it was one of those days where things just didn’t fall our way when we needed them to in front of the Clyde goal.
We also gifted two goals to David Goodwillie, one of the best strikers in our league.
With games as tight as they are in the division, that’s something you can ill afford to do. It’s something we have spoken about and analysed as we prepared for today’s game.
We have been pretty solid at the back since making the step up to SPFL level, so know it’s not normal for us.
The good thing about football is the next game isn’t too long in coming along to give you the opportunity to show you can do better.
I would like to end by thanking the Cove Rangers fans who made the effort to travel and cheer us on at our last two matches, away to Dumbarton and Clyde. You certainly made yourselves heard and we always get a boost when we walk out on to the pitch and see that we aren’t alone.
I’m sure you will make your presence felt this afternoon too, like I said we will need all the help that we can get if we are to advance to the next round.
CYCR!
Mitch Megginson
Scottish League 2 Winners: 2019-20
Highland League Winners: 2000-01, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2012-13, 201516, 2017-18, 2018-19
Runners-up: 1989-90, 1992-93, 1994-95, 1995-96, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2016-17
Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) Winners: 1990-91, 2000-01
Runners-up: 1988-89, 1991-92, 2001-02, 2003-04
Highland League Cup Winners: 1994-95, 1999-2000, 2004-05, 2014-15, 2016-17, 2018-19
Runners-up: 1990-91, 1992-93, 1995-96, 1997-98, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2011-12
Aberdeenshire Cup Winners: 2001-02, 2010-11, 2018-19
Runners-up: 1992-93, 1994-95, 2016-17, 2017-18
Aberdeenshire Shield Winners: 1990-91, 2000-01, 2008-09, 2017-18
Runners-up: 1994-95, 2012-13, 2015-16
Aberdeenshire & District League Winners: 2000-01, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2014-15
Runners-up: 2006-07
Aberdeenshire Centenery Cup Runners-up: 1986-87
Inter-League Trophy Winners: 2001-02
— Today’s team lines
Cove Rangers FC Manager - Paul Hartley
1. Stuart McKenzie
2. Morgyn Neill
3. Harry Milne
4. Connor Scully
5. Scott Ross
6. Ryan Strachan
8. Blair Yule
9. Mitchel Megginson (C)
10. Jamie Masson
11. Leighton McIntosh
13. Rory McAllister 14. Ross Draper
15. Jevan Anderson 16. Iain Vigurs
20. Robbie Leitch
23. Kyle Gourlay 24. Fraser Fyvie 25. Shay Logan
Today’s referee - Barry Cook
Stenhousemuir FC Manager - Stephen Swift
1. Ryan Marshall 2. Ross Lyon 4. Jordan Tapping 5. Sean Crighton
6. Nathaniel Wedderburn 7. Ross Forbes 8. Declan Hughes 9. Thomas Orr 10. Robert Thomson 11. Adam Brown 12. James Lyon 14. Darren Christie 15. Adam Corbett 16. Euan O’Reilly 17. Michael Anderson
18. Bernard Coll
19. Cameron Graham 20. David Wilson
21. Greame Smith
22. Ryan Tierney
23. Jon Craig 24. Nicky Jamieson
Today’s assistant referees - Steven Traynor, Craig Macrae
Team lines sponsor
