23/04/22

cinch League One Champions!

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History was made at Balmoral Stadium as we beat the Sons to clinch the cinch League One title and secure promotion to the Championship for next season. 

A second half strike from skipper Mitch Megginson was enough to secure the three points needed to get things over the line. 

The win extended our  unbeaten run in the league to an astonishing 25 games and sparked amazing scenes as the Cove Rangers fans among the 1,645 crowd celebrated seeing us climb up into the second tier of Scottish football just three years after gaining promotion into the SPFL from the Highland League. 

And there can be little doubt manager Paul Hartley and his team deserved to secure what is also our second title at SPFL level, following on from our League Two triumph two years ago. 

We won more games, scored more goals and conceded less, than any other team in our division. 

It was also historic because by reaching the Championship in just three years means we have made the most rapid rise of all the five clubs who have come into the SPFL from the Highland League. 

It took Inverness Caledonian Thistle four years to gain promotion to what was then called the First Division after joining the SPFL in 1994. 

Ross County, who also stepped up to the SPFL in 1994, had to wait six years before reaching the second tier. 

Peterhead, who were granted league status in 2000, have yet to make it to Championship level. 

Elgin City entered the SPFL at the same time as the Blue Toon, but have yet to gain promotion from the lowest division. 

The victory over Dumbarton was followed by the trophy presentation. 

There were amazing scenes of joy as team captain Mitch Megginson accepted the trophy from long serving club secretary Duncan Little, who was joined in the official presentation party by SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster and Molly Hyde, the SPFL’s assistant company secretary. 

The players and backroom staff then celebrate amid a spectacular pyrotechnic and ticker tape display before doing a lap of honour with the trophy in front of the loyal Blue and White Barmy Army. 

Full match report to follow… 

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