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Back to newsBoss Jim McIntyre hopes the performance, and battling draw, against Hamilton will be the launch pad for Cove Rangers’ cinch Championship season.
Having lost four in a row, and having twice trailed to Accies, the players showed an impressive mental toughness to pick up a point, which was the least they deserved from the game.
Jim believes the draw could be an important turning point:
“In the first half we played some really good football and were hit by a sucker punch when we lost the first goal. But the boys dug deep, stuck to the game plan, and kept doing the right things.”
Central defender Scott Ross was back after injury to play his part, and agrees with his manager that it was a display that should bring confidence for what lies ahead:
“We played really well. We had good possession and moved them around the pitch, the passing was good, and we’re all a wee bit disappointed not to have got the win.
“The team showed a great attitude after twice going behind, we never stopped running, and were the dominant side. It might have been very different if we’d got the first goal.”
Instead, defensive lapses saw us having to come from behind, with ‘super subs’ Jamie Masson and Leighton McIntosh grabbing the equalisers. Their contribution delighted the gaffer:
“It’s all about the players and the boys came on with a hunger to succeed. Mass’s goal was a brilliant strike, and Leights was unlucky not to start after making an impression from the bench last week as well.
“But it’s a squad game and I got the reaction I wanted from both of them.”
“Overall, it was a good performance. We shot ourselves in the foot with their goals, but we kept passing the ball – as we should do, with quality midfielders like Charlie Gilmour, Fraser Fyvie and Iain Vigurs – and it was important not to lose another game in which we had played such good football, as happened against Morton and Queen’s Park.”
It has been a steep learning curve for the players, most having not previously played regularly at this level, and Jim says it’s important they all settle to the task:
“In the Championship, if you make a mistake, you get punished, and we seem to have suffered from just about every mistake.
“We need to keep at it, do what we do best, cut out the errors at the back and be more clinical. Scoring the first goal is massive in this league, it would be nice to get ahead and see how the opposition reacts to that.”
The team are next in action this Friday night, September 9th, as they once again make history with the first televised league match live from Balmoral Stadium against Dundee.
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