News

Assistant manager Gordon Young and right-back Shay Logan spoke to the media after our 2-0 cinch League One victory over Dumbarton at Balmoral Stadium.

Midfielders Fraser Fyvie and Iain Vigurs scored the goals in a game that was played in torrential rain and a howling gale.

Gordon praised keeper Stuart McKenzie, who made two excellent saves before Fyvie fired us ahead midway through the second half.

Gordon said: “It was a massive part of the game.

“Dumbarton tried to have a wee go after coming out for the second half, so his (Stuart’s) two saves were pivotal.

“We started to get a hold of the game after that, we dominated.

“Getting the ball wide to Shay Logan was important, as was the two midfielders getting forward to support the play up front.

“For them to score two goals was excellent.

“The manager is right to say we can’t depend on the strikers all of the time.

“We’ve got to look at goals from set-pieces, from our centre-backs and from midfield.

“That’s two weeks in a row Fyvie and Vigurs have scored, so great credit to the two of them.

“They made great runs and, more importantly, finished them off.”

Gordon was pleased to come away with all three points despite the atrocious weather conditions.

He said: “Both sets of players take enormous credit for doing as well as they did, especially in the first half, when the conditions were horrible.

“It was good that our players were able to go in at half-time and get fully changed, great credit to the people behind the scenes for making sure they were properly prepared for the second half.

“We got a wee bit favoured with the conditions changing slightly after that, not a great deal but enough to let us get the ball down and play a bit more.

“What a great week it has been for us.

“The players have applied themselves, in three different types of conditions, in three different set-ups too, and they have performed excellently.

“We have another hard game on Tuesday (away to Queen of the South in our third round Scottish Cup replay, with the winners away to Hibs in the next round), so it will test the depth of the squad.

“The guys who come in have got to stand up and be counted because it’s another tough task and most likely another set-up for us.

“It will be hard, as a part-time club, to go there on Tuesday and still have the focus on trying to get into the next round.

“But we know what a massive game it would be for the club if we could go to Easter Road to play Hibernian, so we will give it our very best.”

Shay also praised Cove Rangers kit manager Adrian Thomson and the rest of the backroom staff for ensuring they were able to go out wearing fresh kits in the second half after having been drenched by the heavy rain during the first period.

Shay said: “When we went in at half-time we were all absolutely freezing, even the referee said he was feeling terrible because of the weather.

“I changed every part of what I had been wearing, apart from my boots, which I did my best to dry out a bit.

“I went out for the second half feeling fresh and ready to go again – unlike the poor winger I was up against.

“He was standing in front of me, shivering, because they still had the same kits on.

“You have to feel the part to play the part, so you have to praise the club and the staff for doing what they did.”

Shay also felt the 3-4-1-2 formation we adopted gave us the winning edge over the Sons.

It gave him more freedom to get forward and it was one of many crosses from Shay that led to Vigurs sealing our win with the second goal.

Shay said: “I don’t mind playing as a wing-back, but I’ve always said I prefer being at right-back. “As you saw with the second goal, I like to come on to the ball to then get crosses in.

“When you play as a wing-back it’s more about the ball being played out to you and carrying it forward.

“But I will do whatever the manager feels is best to get us the results we want.

“I feel I offer a lot, because of my pace, in either system.

“I do my best to put good crosses in to dangerous areas for our lads to score goals, so I’m delighted that happened on this occasion.

“It’s good that we can go into games with different set-ups that we know we can all play in.

“We have a strong squad, with players who can perform in a variety of positions, which you need if you want to do well in any league.”

Article Copyright © 2021. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to www.coverangersfc.com

Queen of the South Preview | Fraser Fyvie »