News

The team kicked-off its pre-season fixtures last night as we welcomed Dunfermline Athletic to Balmoral Stadium for the third consecutive season.

The manager started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Demus in goal and a backline which consisted of two trialists, Kerr and Ochmanski. Darge and Gallagher played together in midfield, with Luke Strachan out on the left wing. The remaining three attackers were trialists.

Cove started on the front foot, and forced Dunfermline goalkeeper Mehmet into an early save. Number 9 (Trialist F) put Mehmet under real pressure inside his penalty box, and his scuffed clearance dropped to number 7 (Trialist J). After getting the ball out of his feet, he smashed at goal, but Mehmet made up for his mistake by palming the powerful shot to safety.

Dunfermline controlled the majority of possession in the first half, but were limited to very few chances. New signing Kieran Ngwenya came closest just minutes before the half-time interval when his cross fizzed past Demus and hit the far post.

Both teams made a number of changes at the break. All but three of the team were subbed off, with Suman, Doyle, Fyvie, Gaffney and 4 trialist coming on.

Dunfermline continued to control the ball in the opening periods of the second half, and for the second time in the match almost scored from a cross. Fisher collected the ball from a short corner and his deep cross evaded everyone, bouncing off the far post. The Pars’ number 10 looked to finish on the rebound but a combination of Cove defenders got their bodies in the way to block.

Three more changes were made on the hour, with Scully, Yule and number 20 (Trialist I) entering the pitch to replace the three trialists who remained on the pitch from the first half (Trialist E, F & J).

It wasn’t long before the substitutes were making an impact on the game. In the 67th minute, a move which began with Nick Suman found its way to Gaffney on the halfway line. The forward knocked the ball to Yule before making a run in behind the defence and receiving. He got his head up and cut the ball back to the edge of the area for SCULLY to drill low and hard into the back of the net.

It was almost two 5 minutes later. Yule collected the ball wide on the right and calmly picked out number 20 (Trialist I) just outside the penalty area. The trialist took a touch away from the Dunfermline defender, but his effort was blazed over the bar.

Blair Yule continued to be a creative spark in midfield, and almost netted late on. With Yule unmarked on the edge of the box, Fyvie cleverly drilled a low corner right to his feet, but the resulting effort was hammered low and wide of the post.

Our first match back was seconds away from ending with a victory, but the Pars continued to battle and equalised with almost the last kick of the game. Dunfermline’s number 10 collected the ball wide on the left and whipped a delightful cross into the heart of the Cove box and McCANN nodded beyond Suman into the far corner.

As it did in last season’s friendly, the match ended 1-1.

The team will next be in action on Thursday evening, a 19:30 kick-off against Banks O’Dee. Tickets can be bought at the Cove Rangers FC website.

COVE RANGERS: Demus, Trialist C, Ochmanski, Darge, Kerr, Trialist G, Trialist J, Gallagher, Trialist F, Trialist E, Strachan

SUBS: Suman, Trialist B, Scully, Doyle, Gillingham, Gaffney, Yule, Trialist D, Trialist I, Mines, Robertson, Fyvie, Trialist A, Trialist H

DUNFERMLINE: Mehmet, Comrie, Ngwenya, Benedictus, Hamilton, Chalmers, Wighton, Breen, Fisher, Wotherspoon, T. Sutherland

SUBS: Trialist, Ritchie-Hosler, Trialist, McCann, Trialist, McLeod, J. Sutherland, O’Halloran, Young, Tod

Article Copyright © 2024. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and to www.coverangersfc.com

CRFC Lotto | Jackpot Hits £4,500! »