This
Her Majesty, The Queen
are
Jamie Masson and Leighton McIntosh played the roles of super-subs as we twice fought back from behind to earn a point in a rip-roaring cinch Championship encounter with Accies at Balmoral Stadium.
Midfielder Masson had only been on the pitch for thirty-one seconds when he scored a wonder goal to make it 1-1 early in the second half.
Masson then set up fellow substitute McIntosh for 2-2, after Hamilton had regained the lead, to ensure Cove ended the afternoon with something for
Manager Jim McIntyre had made three changes to the line-up from the Queen’s Park game, with skipper Mitch Megginson, defender Scott Ross and midfielder Robbie Leitch all in from the start.
Hamilton had the first real chance, when Lewis Smith lashed a left foot shot from the edge of the area just wide of Cove keeper Kyle Gourlay’s right post in the
Shay Logan underlined his defensive qualities with a fantastic last gasp tackle to stop Andy Winter shooting from ten yards, just after the half hour.
Hamilton appealed for a penalty when Zanatta tumbled after being tackled by Ross, but the referee waved play on. Cove threatened when Fyvie’s excellent cross from wide on the right required Hamilton keeper Ryan Fulton to dive and make a brave save at the feet of the inrushing Megginson in the six yard box.
Accies went ahead shortly before half-time.
A Steve Lawson free-kick saw TIEHI nipping in ahead of Reynolds to lash the ball past Gourlay from the edge of the six yard box.
Hamilton were unlucky not to go in at the interval two ahead.
Gourlay did well to save a shot from O’Reilly, with Logan then diverting the loose ball off the inside of his own right post before it was cleared from the danger area.
Gourlay was then forced to make a great save from Smith two minutes later, when he dived to his left to push the midfielder’s fourteen-yard shot behind for a corner.
We were close to opening the scoring in the twenty-first minute, following a great break forward by Charlie Gilmour. He fed the ball up to Megginson, who laid it off for Fraser Fyvie to fire a powerful eighteen-yard shot inches off target.
Jamie Masson was introduced for Cieran Dunne in the fifty-fifth minute, and made an instant impact.
Sign up for £1/week and every Wednesday be in for the change to win a cash prize of £20,000 with our rolling jackpot.
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To support us, scan the QR code or visit: ourclublotto.co.uk/play/coverangersfc
Cove Rangers FC is relaunching and revamping the club lottery.
We have linked-up with OUR CLUB LOTTO, an organisation which runs highly successful lotteries for various clubs, to come up with a new game which offers big prizes, and will benefit the club every time you play.
Cove Rangers FC Lotto will be drawn for the first time on Wednesday, November 2nd 2022.
Each entry costs just £1.00 per week, but you can buy as many lines as you wish up to a maximum of twenty-five lines.
The aim is to match all four numbers, selected from 1-25.
Players choose their numbers, or go for the Lucky Dip option, online, and for your convenience, there is the option to buy for up to fifty-two weeks in advance.
The weekly prize starts at £500, with a second prize of £50, but it rolls over in the same way as the UK National Lottery does, rising in £50 increments each week it is not won, up to a maximum of £20,000.
To help launch the new project, there will be a bumper first weekly prize for the November 2nd draw, beginning at £2,000.
This is an important area of fundraising for Cove Rangers FC, and crucially, all proceeds go directly to the club.
Further details can be found at Cove’s Our Club Lotto website: ourclublotto.co.uk/play/coverangersfc
We hope you will join us in this exciting new venture. The existing scheme will be wound up when we next have a winner for the current weekly draw.
Good luck, and please spread the word!
Official Ball Supplier of the
While all at the club have been frustrated by the difficult start to our cinch Championship campaign, one man has perhaps felt it even more acutely than anyone else.
Having been a key member of the side which gained three promotions and elevated Cove Rangers up the Scottish football ladder, Blair Yule has been left kicking his heels on the sidelines this season, having had to come to terms with the longest injury absence of his career.
He felt a problem in his ankle during the warm-up ahead of the St Johnstone friendly and pulled out of the starting line-up, not anticipating then that his season was about to be delayed by months:
“It was just a routine warm-up, I didn’t roll the ankle or anything, it just became inflamed, and I couldn’t put any pressure on it.
“The issue began last September, and it flared up again in January, but it was all very manageable, and I was able to play through it without any great worries.”
Blair had hoped that a bit of rest during the close season would allow the injury to heal, that he would recover fully, but it re-emerged almost immediately:
“As soon as we came back training after the summer, I could feel the problem was still there. It was niggling away whenever
I tried to put in the work, and it all came to a head at McDiarmid Park when I realised I wasn’t going to be able to play.”
For the next three weeks, Blair rested the ankle and got treatment on it, and went out for a fitness test on the Balmoral pitch ahead of the Championship opener against Raith Rovers:
“It felt great that day, I was able to do some sharp turns, and I didn’t feel as if we had overdone it, but in hindsight, I maybe pushed it a bit too hard, and we were back to square one.”
The rehabilitation had to start all over again, and Blair had to exercise patience:
“That’s been tough. I’ve been lucky in my career, never been out for longer than two weeks in the past, but it’s something that affects most footballers at one time or another, and I have had to learn to be patient.
“I got a jab a couple of weeks ago to help with the healing process, and since that Raith game it’s been a slow and steady build-up, strengthening the muscles. I was back running again last week, trying to up my base fitness level, and all things being well, I should be back doing full training again next week. Hopefully I can get out on the pitch by the end of the month.”
Watching the team struggle to get results has been even more painful for Blair than the injury itself:
“It has been really difficult. All I want to do is get out there and help the boys. Seeing them facing up to challenging times and not being able to play my part has been the most frustrating thing.
“We all knew the full-time teams would have a huge advantage in this league, and you can see that in the games we’ve played. The good thing is that the dip in results has come early, and I’ve no doubt we can get a run going. The draw against Hamilton might have been the turning point.
“It’s such a tight division; we just need to play as we know we can, and hopefully get some breaks along the way.”
It will be a few weeks yet before Blair can reclaim his place in the side and make an impact on the pitch, and he has had to put up with a fair bit of good-natured banter from his team-mates:
“I get the comments, I hear them saying ‘Oh, there’s Blair, chilling in the physio’s room again’, but it’s all done in the right way, and it helps with your mental toughness.
“You need to be strong if you’re going to survive a football dressing room, and we have such a brilliant bond here at Cove, all the players get on, we all have each other’s backs, and despite some disappointing results, we all try to maintain the positivity you need in this game.”
That is something Blair Yule has had to work on for the past couple of months.
Hopefully it will not be too long before we see him back out there, in the heart of the Cove Rangers midfield.
I came away from last weekend’s draw against Hamilton with mixed emotions.
I was generally delighted with the performance, but frustrated by the defensive lapses which cost us a couple of goals.
You always want to win your home games, but having twice been behind, the boys showed great mental toughness to recover, and I have to see the point as a positive, particularly given how well we played.
What we did manage was to avoid losing another match we had contributed plenty to, as had happened against Morton and Queen’s Park.
It was good to have a bigger squad at my disposal too –with only Blair Yule and Gerry McDonagh ruled out – and that gave me some strong options, as Jamie Masson and Leighton McIntosh proved when they came on.
They are two excellent players, and they would have been disappointed to have been left out, but they showed a brilliant attitude and came on with a real hunger to succeed. They’ve clearly given me something to think about for tonight’s game, and that’s a brilliant problem for me to have.
What I really enjoyed last week was how we dug deep against Accies, believed in ourselves, and kept playing the football we all know we’re capable of.
When you have the quality in central midfield that we do, in Gilmour, Fyvie and Vigurs, you have to make the most of it, and some of our passing against Hamilton was a joy to watch.
There has been a really strong reaction to our poor display against Ayr, and although we’ve only taken one point from the two matches since, I feel much more encouraged by how we’ve played.
It was always going to take time for the players to adapt to the step up from League One, and they’ve learned that you can’t afford to make mistakes at this level.
More than anything, we need to cut those out, and have a real killer touch at the other end of the pitch.
The league is still very tight, no-one has been cut adrift, and we’ve seen that no-one can take wins for granted. You have to work so hard for every single point you get in the Championship.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to the BBC Scotland team who are here on what is a historic night, the first time a league game has been shown live from Balmoral Stadium.
The three matches they have already aired this season have offered up great entertainment, but while I would like to put on a show for the Sportscene viewers, my main objective tonight is to pick up the three points.
Enjoy the game. Jim McIntyre
“
...we dug deep against Accies, believed in ourselves, and kept playing the football we all know we’re capable of.”
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SPFL Trust
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Date Fixture Competition H/A Score 03.12.22
Partick Thistle SPFL Champ H 17.12.22 Dundee SPFL Champ A 24.12.22 Hamilton SPFL Champ H 02.01.23 Inverness CT SPFL Champ A 07.01.23 Queen’s Park SPFL Champ A 14.01.23 Raith Rovers SPFL Champ H 28.01.23 Ayr SPFL Champ H 04.02.23 Partick Thistle SPFL Champ A 18.02.23 Arbroath SPFL Champ H 25.02.23 Morton SPFL Champ A 04.03.23 Dundee SPFL Champ H 11.03.23 Queen’s Park SPFL Champ H 18.03.23 Raith Rovers SPFL Champ A 25.03.23 Ayr SPFL Champ A 01.04.23 Partick Thistle SPFL Champ H 08.04.23 Hamilton SPFL Champ A 15.04.23 Inverness CT SPFL Champ H 22.04.23 Arbroath SPFL Champ
29.04.23 Dundee SPFL Champ
05.05.23 Morton SPFL Champ H
Blair Yule
Jamie Masson
Fraser Fyvie
Iain Vigurs
Charlie Gilmour
Luis Longstaff
Cieran Dunne
Robbie Leitch
Gerry McDonagh
Mitchel Megginson
Leighton McIntosh
We go into tonight’s televised match with Dundee in good spirits after what I thought was a much better team performance against Hamilton last weekend.
I felt we were the better side for most of the game, and it would have been hugely disappointing to come away with nothing.
The subs deserve a lot of credit for coming on and getting the goals, and Jamie Masson’s strike was superb.
Once again, we slipped up at the back, and you can’t afford to give chances away in this league as there are so many top strikers just waiting for a sniff at goal. We have been punished in a few of the games, and that’s something we need to work on.
From my point of view, it was great being back in the side after missing Queen’s Park, and it was a tough shift. I do get frustrated when I can’t get shots away, and it was one of those afternoons when nothing fell for me, but personal goals have to be put on the back burner as the most important thing is the team.
I was more of a focal point last week, laying balls off rather than getting chances in the box, but that’ll come, particularly given the quality we have in midfield. The three guys in there – Gilmour, Fyvie and Vigurs – are a match for any other team in the division.
Overall, we just need better decision making in the final third.
The new boys are still settling in, you can see that, but like the rest of us, they are getting used to how the manager wants us to play, and that’s coming, that was obvious given some of the football we played last Saturday.
This week has been unusual in that we only trained on Tuesday night, but it shouldn’t be a problem. That’s when we generally put the shift in anyway, Thursdays tend to be a bit of a lighter session, and we’ve all got our match fitness up at this stage of the season.
It will be good to play under the lights tonight, the boys have all been looking forward to this one, and it will be great not having to worry about the sun in our eyes, which has been a bit of an issue in the games at the Balmoral so far.
The pitch can also get dry and sticky, no matter how much it is watered, so that will be another plus this evening, we should be able to zip the passes around, and that suits the style of football we all like playing.
It’s obviously a big occasion, the first ever live televised league game at our home stadium, and there should be a really good atmosphere as I know Dundee will bring up a big support, and I’m sure our fans will turn out in good numbers too.
This is exactly the kind of fixture we have earned the right to play given our successes in recent seasons, and I hope we can give you all a night to remember.
COYCR!
Mitch Megginson
“
It’s obviously a big occasion, the first ever live televised league game at our home stadium, and there should be a really good atmosphere.”
Sky Sports available on Sky Glass or with compatible Sky Q or + box. Requires Ultimate TV Subscription (currently £26pcm). Further terms apply. Over 400 games: based on 128 Premier League games; 228 English Football League games (includes 80 red button matches); up to 48 Scottish Professional Football League games; and up to 44 Women’s Super League matches shown across the football season from 31 July 2021 to 29 May 2022.
Winners ‘21-’22
Highland League Winners ‘00-’01, ‘07-’08, ‘08-’09, ‘12-’13, ‘15-’16, ‘17-’18, ‘18-’19
Runners-up ‘89-’90, ‘92-’93, ‘94-’95, ‘95-’96, ‘09-’10, ‘11-’12, ‘16-’17
Highland League Cup
Winners
‘94-’95, ‘99-’00, ‘04-’05, ‘14-1’5, ‘16-17, ‘18-’19
Runners-up ‘90-’91, ‘92-’93, ‘95-’96, ‘97-’98, ‘05-’06, ‘07-’08, ‘11-’12
Winners ‘90-’91, ‘00-’01
Runners-up ‘88-’89, ‘91-’92, ‘01-’02, ‘03-’04
Winners
‘01-’02, ‘10-’11, ‘18-’19
Runners-up ‘92-’93, ‘94-’95, ‘16-’17, ‘17-’18
Aberdeenshire Shield Winners ‘01-’02, ‘10-’11, ‘18-’19
Runners-up ‘94-’95, ‘12-’13, ‘15-’16
Winners ‘00-’01, ‘08-’09, ‘10-’11, ‘11-’12, ‘12-’13, ‘14-’15
Runners-up ‘06-’07
Aberdeenshire Centenary Cup
Runners-up ‘86-’87
Inter-League Trophy Winners ‘01-’02
1 Stuart McKenzie
2 Shay Logan
3 Evan Towler
4 Connor Scully
5 Scott Ross
6 Morgyn Neill
7 Gerry McDonagh
8 Blair Yule
9 Mitchel Megginson (C)
10 Jamie Masson
11 Leighton McIntosh
14 Charlie Gilmour
16 Iain Vigurs
17 Luis Longstaff
19 Rhys Thomas
20 Robbie Leitch
21 Balint Demus
22 Cieran Dunne
23 Kyle Gourlay
24 Fraser Fyvie
26 Mark Reynolds
27 Max Johnston
1 Adam Legzdins
2 Cammy Kerr
3 Jordan Marshall
4 Tyler French
5 Ryan Sweeney (C)
6 Jordan McGhee
7 Alex Jakubiak
8 Shaun Byrne 10 Paul McGowan
11 Niall McGinn
12 Jay Chapman
14 Lee Ashcroft
15 Josh Mulligan
16 Zach Robinson
17 Luke McCowan 18 Paul McMullan
19 Finlay Robertson
20 Zak Rudden
21 Ian Lawlor
22 Ben Williamson
23 Cillian Sheridan
24 Max Anderson 25 Lyall Cameron
27 Luke Strachan
30 Harrison Sharp 38 Joe Grayson
Tonight’s referee - Craig Napier
Tonight’s assistant referees - Steven Traynor & Chris Rae
Fourth official - Graham Beaton Team lines sponsor
