Morton Match Report

Our unbeaten run ended on a miserable afternoon at Balmoral as Morton took the honours from a game largely ruined by the strong winds which whipped across the stadium.

There was one change to the side which fought out a battling 1-1 draw with Arbroath at Gayfield, Luis Longstaff returning from injury on the right, allowing Fraser Fyvie to support Gerry McDonagh up front, in place of the suspended Mitch Megginson.

Kyle McClelland was still sidelined and Evan Towler away on Scotland under-19 duty.

It became clear right from kick-off that this was not going to be a classic ninety minutes. With the wind in their faces Morton found it hard to clear their lines, and with the gale behind them the Cove players struggled to gauge it, the ball regularly taking off and running away from what initially seemed like good passes.

The visitors went in front shortly before the interval, but the goal should never have stood. As the ball was played forward, Jaze Kabia was clearly offside when he gathered, but the linesman kept his flag down. The Morton midfielder rolled it wide, and when it was delivered into the box, Quitongo mis-kicked and it fell for KABIA who sidefooted home. Cove Rangers (4-4-2) McKenzie; Johnston, Sanders, Reynolds, Logan; Longstaff (Masson 60), Yule, Gilmour, Scully (Leitch 80); Fyvie (c), McDonagh (McIntosh 65)

Substitutes Gourlay, Ross, Neill, Vigurs, Dunne Goalscorers McIntosh (83) Booked Masson (63), Sanders (63)

Morton

(4-4-2) Schwake; Grimshaw, Baird, Ambrose, Strapp; Kabia (Pignatiello 77), Blues, Crawford, McGrattan (King 77); Quitongo, Muirhead Substitutes O’Connor, Hynes, McGregor, Lithgow Goalscorers Kabia (41), Crawford (87) Booked McGrattan (45), Kabia (63)

Referee

Peter Stuart

Attendance

870

Robbie Leitch replaced Scully with ten minutes to go, and the equaliser finally came soon after. Fyvie and Leitch were initially at the heart of the move, Jamie Masson played the ball through for Max Johnston, but his cross was overhit. Logan gathered on the left and swung back in a dangerous delivery which cannoned off the post, and Leighton McINTOSH was first to react to head past Schwake.

Our joy was, however, to be short-lived. A Morton cross was half cleared, and poor marking allowed Robbie CRAWFORD all the freedom he needed to volley home from the edge of the box.

CONNOR SCULLY

Long-serving Cove Rangers midfielder Connor Scully has been granted a Testimonial after spending half his life with the club.

When he initially joined in his mid-teens, it was as a left-winger, but a switch to the boiler room of midfield paid massive dividends, and Connor has been at the heart of everything Cove have achieved in recent years.

Like his close friends, Mitch Megginson, Blair Yule, Stuart McKenzie, Scott Ross and Jamie Masson, Scully has been a major factor in the rise up through the divisions, from the Highland League through to the Championship, and he has stepped up comfortably to the new demands posed at each level.

The club is delighted to support Connor, and Chairman, Keith Moorhouse, says it is well-deserved recognition for ‘one of our own’: