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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
Sky Sports
League matches
WASPS left STUNG late COVE COMEBACK
STUNG AFTER COMEBACK
Ola Adeyemo’s first strike for the club and Rory McAllister’s 18th of the campaign were enough to rescue a point as we made an astonishing late comeback against The Wasps at the Indodrill Stadium.
Alloa made good use of what was an uncharacteristically below par first half performance from us to deservedly go in at the interval two ahead, thanks to goals from Andy Graham and Steven Boyd.
It could have been more for the home side at that point, although to be fair on our lads we might have actually been level by the break had Jamie Masson not seen a header hit the woodwork and another effort kept out by Alloa keeper David Hutton.
Alloa hopes of holding on for victory were dented when they had substitute Jon Robertson red carded, only four minutes after he came on, for going in with studs high on Iain Vigurs, on the hour.
But it was manager Paul Hartley having the courage to go for broke by throwing on every attacking substitute he had that was the main reason why we came away with what could end up being a valuable point.
That looked a distance hope in the first half, when we simply weren’t at the races and were pinned back by Alloa from the off.
The Wasps got their opener in the fifth minute when Mohamed Niang managed to knock the ball on to Graham. He didn’t connect properly with his shot from 10-yards, but it was enough to get the ball past Stuart McKenzie into the net.
McKenzie then had to punch the ball off the head of Stefan Scougall at the edge of the six-yard box as the home side threatened again almost immediately.
Alloa were screaming for a penalty when Niang’s shot was deflected wide in the 14th minute, but referee Peter Stuart was content with awarding a corner to the home side.
— Alloa Athletic Match Report
Boyd took the resulting corner, from the left, and his cross reached Niang, who sent his six-yard header wide of the far post. It was all Alloa, so it was no surprise to see them go two up in the 18th minute.
Connor Sammon did well to win the ball deep in our area and when he knocked it to his left Boyd was unmarked to sweep it into the far corner from 12-yards.
We were lucky not to fall three behind in the 20th minute. Adam King fed the ball through to Sammon and his acrobatic volley was kept out by an impressive diving save from McKenzie.
Scougall then broke forward to lash a 16-yard shot wide as the home side continued to dominate.
McKenzie was called into action again in the 24th minute, when he made a brave block at the feet of Daniel Church at the edge of the six yard box. The rebound broke to Boyd but his lob, from a tight angle on the left, went over the crossbar.
Cove manager Paul Hartley chose to go with a 3-5-2 formation at that point in an effort to stem the tide and we were desperately unlucky not to pull a goal back in the 35th minute.
Mark Reynolds played the ball down the left to Harry Milne and his cross reached Masson, who saw his powerful eight-yard header rebound to safety off Alloa keeper Hutton’s right post.
Masson was desperately unlucky again in the 40th minute. Reynolds fired a magnificent cross over from wide on the left and Masson looked certain to score from close range at the back post, but Hutton somehow managed to scoop the ball clear.
That meant we came back out with hope that we could recover, although it was Alloa who continued to look more dangerous, on the break, in the early stages of the second period.
You could sense a switch in momentum on the hour, when Robertson was shown a red card for his clumsy, high, challenge on Vigurs, who required treatment before he could continue.
Manager Hartley responded to having the man advantage by bringing on McAllister and Kai Fotheringham and piling men forward.
Alloa were asking for a red card to be shown to Morgyn Neill in the 68th minute, despite the fact the defender seemed to have made a perfectly timed tackle to stop Sammon running in on goal.
Referee Stuart chose to book Neill, with Boyd then blasting the resulting 20-yard free-kick over the crossbar.
McAllister set up Fotheringham with a clever lay-off, in the 70th minute, but the young attacker could only guide his 14yard shot over the crossbar.
We went for broke in the 77th minute, with Adeyemo, Leighton McIntosh and Robbie Leitch all added to what was now virtually a six man attack.
And our determination to salvage something was rewarded in the 81st minute when Milne fired a splendid cross over from the left touchline and Adeyemo rose to steer a brilliant eight-yard header into the corner of the net.
There was no time to celebrate as we raced back to get play restarted and Adeyemo’s appeal for a penalty when he appeared to be shoved, in the 83rd minute, was waved away by the referee.
Alloa were hanging on desperately now and it took a last-gasp block from Scott Taggart to stop Fraser Fyvie equalising a minute later, after Milne and McAllister had combined to get the ball to him.
The equaliser our show of guts and character deserved finally arrived in the 85th minute, after Fotheringham managed to knock the ball on to McAllister, deep inside the Alloa area.
Hutton seemed to have his goal covered, but veteran striker McAllister showed his class by squeezing a right foot shot past him from the tightest of angles on the left.
We laid siege to the Alloa goal after that, but just ran out of time, with Hutton grabbing a Milne cross right under his crossbar the last action of what had been an enthralling finale.
Alloa Athletic: Hutton, Durban, Graham, Taggart, Cawley, King (Robertson 56), Niang, Church, Scougall (Riley-Snow 63), Boyd, Sammon (Armour 77).
Subs: Burt, Mendy, Armstrong, O’Donnell, Howie.
Cove Rangers: McKenzie, Neill, Milne, Scully (Fotheringham 63), Ross (Leitch 77), Yule, Megginson (McIntosh 77), Masson (McAllister 63), Vigurs, Fyvie (Adeyemo 77), Reynolds.
Subs: Gourlay.
Referee: Peter Stuart.
ALLOA ATHLETIC REACTION
Ola Adeyemo is delighted his first goal for Cove Rangers was one that mattered.
The 27-year-old Nigerian striker came off the bench to net with a brilliant header to make it 2-1 as we dramatically fought back from two behind to draw 2-2 with Alloa Athletic in our cinch League One clash at the Indodrill Stadium.
We looked to be on our way to defeat until Ola got on the end of an excellent cross by Harry Milne as the game moved into the final 10 minutes.
Ola said: “I was buzzing after scoring that goal. It was good to get on the park and make a positive contribution to help come back and secure a point. It wouldn’t have been the same if I had scored in a game that was already as good as won.
Strikers prefer to get goals that really matter and that one certainly did.”
Ola would normally celebrate his goals in style, but he knew he couldn’t afford to do that on this occasion, because we were still a goal behind with less than eight minutes to play. We were against the clock, so it was a case of getting the ball back up to the centre spot as quickly as we could and going at them again,” he said.
“Strikers prefer to get goals that really matter and that one certainly did.”
“It would have been nice to celebrate the goal, I can assure you I was delighted inside, but getting something from the game was more important.”
We did just that, with Rory McAllister pouncing with five minutes left to net his 18th goal of the campaign and extend our unbeaten run in the league to an impressive 17 games.
Ola said: “Rory is an amazing striker, you know you always have a chance when he is on the park. Nobody is ever completely happy with a draw, but we were pleased to come away with a point when you consider we were two goals behind so late in the game. To come back as we did shows just how good a squad of players we have.”
Ola has had to wait patiently for the opportunity to make his mark, the appearance against Alloa was only his eighth since joining the club in September. He is hoping finding the net will increase his chances of also featuring in this evening’s SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final clash with Queen of the South at Balmoral Stadium.
Ola said: “It’s tough when you aren’t playing as often as you would like, but I knew the situation when I joined the club. We have some really high quality strikers and it’s been a case of working hard in training to make sure I’m ready to do the best job I can when called upon.
The more minutes I get the better I will get and it’s natural to hope actually scoring will increase my chances. It would be great to be involved in the semi-final, it’s a huge game for the club.”
IAIN VIGURS
Cove Rangers midfielder Iain Vigurs is a three time winner of the SPFL Trust Trophy - which was previously known as the Challenge Cup.
As we prepare to face Queen of the South in this evening’s semi-final clash at Balmoral Stadium, Iain speaks about those triumphs and how much he would love to get through to another final.
Are you excited to part of a team that has reached the semi-final stages again?
Very much so, mainly because we know it’s a major achievement for our club. The journey they were on before I came to Cove, from playing in the Highland League, up through League Two into League One was already unbelievable.
It would be amazing if we could add another exciting chapter to that by making it to the club’s first senior cup final. We will have to earn that final place though. Queen of the South are a Championship side, so have to be seen as the favourites to progress tonight. I know we beat them in the Scottish Cup earlier in the season, but that will count for nothing when we face up to each other again.
They will want to get to the final as much as we do, so we know it’s going to take one of our very best performances if we are to come out on top. It took an excellent display from us to get past them in our Scottish Cup replay. We will need to reach those standards again because you can be sure Queen’s will come here determined to show they can do better than they did that last time.
How important was avoiding defeat in the league at Alloa last weekend going into the cup tie?
Nobody likes to lose because it can hit a team’s confidence. But the game at Alloa was a timely reminder of what happens if you aren’t at it from the off.
We began the match very poorly and before we knew it we were 2-0 down.
We played better after that, but it never looked as if we were going to score until Ola Adeyemo came off the bench. He got right in about the Alloa defenders and Ola’s goal gave us a huge lift. That led to Rory McAllister doing what he does best to rescue a point for us.
We know we can’t afford to give Queen of the South the sort of encouragement Alloa got because of the way we started against them.
“It doesn’t matter what the competition is, if you can get your hands on a winners’ medal in means the world to you.”
Cove are the only non-Championship side left in the last four, how do the players feel about that?
Immensely proud, it shows the quality of the squad that we have. This stage of the competition tends to feature mainly fulltime sides from the Championship. For us to be in there, alongside Kilmarnockwho were a Premiership club last season - as well as Queens and Raith Rovers, both past winners of the competition, is something to feel very pleased about.
Having got this far though, we will only really be happy if we are still in the competition after this evening.
CHAMPION: Iain Vigurs with the Challenge Cup after helping Ross County win the tournament in 2011.
You have already completed a hat-trick of triumphs in the competition (two with Ross County and one with Inverness Caledonian Thistle).
What would it mean to you if you could move to within 90 minutes of maybe claiming a fourth winners’ medal?
That would be something special. I have played with so many really top class players, in England as well as north of the border, who never won a trophy in their entire careers.
It doesn’t matter what the competition is, if you can get your hands on a winners’ medal in means the world to you.
I’ve been very lucky to pick up three already, those wins with County and Inverness were among the highlights of my career. But the more you do it the more you want to do it again. Not just for yourself, but also for the club you are playing for.
Those cup wins were a positive platform for County and Inverness to build on as they worked to progress up the SPFL. I’m sure it would have the same positive effect on Cove Rangers too - but we won’t know that if we don’t do what is needed to get through the very tough match ahead of us tonight.
START PLAYING.
Rip-roaring power. Spellbinding control. Jaw-dropping accuracy. The new Mitre Delta Max SPFL. Prepare to mesmerise.
PAUL HARTLEY
The club should be proud of the players for setting up such a big occasion for us in what is only our third year playing at SPFL level.
But we will only enjoy being in tonight’s semi-final if we win it. That won’t be easy against Championship opponents, but I can promise you we will give it our best shot.
To actually get to a final would be an incredible achievement when you consider where Cove Rangers were not so long ago.
Some of that lads have been on the journey right through, all the way up from the Highland League, so you can be sure it would mean a lot to them.
HARTLEY
— View from the dugout
It would also mean a lot to the host of people working behind the scenes, some of them for many, many years, helping to get our club to where we are at today.
We are going to have to earn the right to play in the SPFL Trust final though. Forget the fact we beat Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup earlier in the season. This is a different competition with a huge prize for both clubs so we better be ready for what I expect to be one of our toughest games of the season.
Queen’s showed their quality by almost beating us here in the Scottish Cup, Rory McAllister secured a replay with virtually the last kick of the ball. We are going to have to be at our very best if we are to avoid that sort of drama and secure what would be a huge result for us.
It’s pleasing that we are going into tie having managed to stretch our unbeaten run in Cinch League One to 17 games by drawing 2-2 away to Alloa Athletic last weekend. It wasn’t our best performance, but credit to the players for finding a way of recovering from 2-0 down to secure what could end up being a very valuable point.
You don’t have unbeaten runs like ours if you lack players with the right character and desire to succeed. Cup ties offer a different type of challenge, but the players know those same qualities that have served us so well in the league will be needed again tonight.
Enjoy the game.
Paul Hartley
“You don’t have unbeaten runs like ours if you lack players with the right character and desire to succeed.”
MANAGEMENT
DEFENDERS
GOALKEEPERS
Paul Hartley
Gordon Young
Harry Milne
Ryan Strachan
Shay Logan Morgyn Neill
Mark Reynolds
Scott Ross
Ritchie
Stuart McKenzie
Kyle Gourlay
Jevan Anderson
Blair Yule
Jamie Masson
Fraser Fyvie
Connor Scully
Rory McAllister
Ola Adeyemo
Mitchel Megginson
Leighton McIntosh
Iain Vigurs
Robbie Leitch
Kai Fotheringham
— Season 2021/22 statistics
#CRFCLIVE
CAPTAIN’S WEIV
“We are proud to have taken Cove Rangers to the club’s first major cup semi-final less than three years since we made the step up from the Highland League.”
It shows how far we have come and is a welcome reward to everyone involved at the club, not just the players and coaching staff.
There’s a whole army of people who do invaluable work behind the scenes that often goes unnoticed but is crucial if we are to have any chance of being successful. We would love to show how much we appreciate their efforts by giving them a cup final to look forward to once again.
Cove Rangers were used to competing in semi-finals and finals when we played at Highland League level and we want that to become a regular occurrence now that we are in the SPFL too. Achieving that in the Scottish Cup and Premier Sports League Cup will be more difficult because you are up against the Premiership clubs in the latter stages, although we were encouraged by how well we did when we played Hibs at Easter Road in the former last month.
The SPFL Trust Trophy, however, offers every club in the lower divisions a better opportunity of making it to a final and getting their hands on some silverware. Having made it to the semis this time around, the aim - of course - is to see if we can go all the way in the competition. But let’s not forget the players of Queen of the South and those in the two teams competing in the other semi-final tomorrow night will be thinking exactly the same thing.
— Captain’s view
The fact we are the only non-Championship side left in the last four underlines how tough the task ahead of us is, but that is a challenge we are happy to take on. We have at least given ourselves the opportunity to make it to the final and it is up to us to do all that we can to take advantage of that, especially with tonight’s tie taking place here at Balmoral Stadium.
Any team would be delighted to get the chance to play a cup semi at their own ground, especially when you add in how fantastic our record has been since we made the step up three years ago.
The fact Queen of the South held us to a draw here earlier in the season in the Scottish Cup serves as a reminder that we can’t afford to be complacent. Even though we managed to win the replay, those games gave The Doonhamers an insight into what we are like as a team. That will ensure there is no complacency in their camp, even though they are up against opponents from the division below.
Their players will also be keen to avenge what happened to them in the Scottish Cup, so I reckon this game is going to be the hardest of all the ones between us so far. We will need to make sure we are at our best, from the first minute to the last, if we are to have any hope of winning.
It is also an evening when we will need the Cove Rangers fans to be at their very best. The small band who made the long trek down to Dumfries for the Scottish Cup replay, despite the atrocious weather conditions that night, really made themselves heard and inspired us to deliver one of our best performances of the season.
There will be far more Cove Rangers fans here tonight, so it would be marvellous if you could get behind us like you always do as we go into what is probably the biggest match played so far at Balmoral Stadium since it opened.
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
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
17. Ola Adeyemo
19. Rhys Thomas 20. Robbie Leitch
21. Balint Demus
23. Kyle Gourlay
24. Fraser Fyvie
25. Shay Logan
26. Mark Reynolds
27. Kai Fotheringham
Queen of the South FC Manager - Wullie Gibson
1. Josh Rae
2. Darragh O’Connor
3. Alex Cooper
4. Udoka Chima
5. Paul McKay
6. Harry Cochrane
7. Ruari Paton
8. Josh Todd 9. Ally Roy
10. Lee Connelly 11. Aidan Fitzpatrick
13. Josh Debayo 14. Ben Liddle
15. Calvin McGrory
16. Euan East
17. Niyah Joseph
18. Kieran McKechnie 19. Innes Cameron
20. Roberto Nditi
21. Dom McMahon
22. Max Johnston 23. Shea Gordon
24. Samuel Folarin
25. Scott Dunn
26. Ryan Muir 29. Matthew Henderson
30. Charlie Cowie
33. Wullie Gibson
49. Rueben Junior
Today’s referee - David Dickinson
Today’s assistant referees - Alastair Mather, Steven Traynor
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