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When we kick-off against Caley Thistle at the weekend, it will herald the start of our eighteenth successive season competing in the Scottish Cup.

It is a much more open competition these days, with clubs at all levels able to battle their way through to the tournament proper. For many years though, it was all but a closed shop, and the only way for Highland League clubs to get in was through the Scottish Qualifying Cup (North), with just the four semi-finalists gaining entry.

Cove Rangers made their debut on Saturday, December 9^th, 1989, just a few years after stepping up from the Juniors. It involved a marathon journey to Dumfries, but the club took a highly professional approach to the tie, booking an overnight stay for the squad at the Grosvenor Hotel in Glasgow to cut down the travelling time on matchday.

It was to be a trip which ended in disappointment, with a narrow 2-1 defeat against Queen of the South, but the players put in an excellent performance, a fact acknowledged by Queen’s manager, Billy McLaren:

“Cove were the better side, even a blind man could have seen we really struggled against them. They thoroughly deserved a draw, at the very least.”

The honour of netting the club’s first ever goal in the national knockout competition went to midfielder, Mike Cormack:

“I remember coming off feeling disappointed that we had lost and not repaid all that the club had done for us. But we had at least taken Queen of the South right to the wire, and it’s pleasing to know I’m in the history books as the first to score a Scottish Cup goal for Cove.”

Our first win was on December 29^th, 1990, a 4-1 thumping of Fraserburgh, which attracted a huge crowd, and was featured extensively on that night’s Sportscene highlights programme on BBC Scotland. Doug Baxter and Donald Smith were both on target that day at Bellslea, and Mike Megginson grabbed a double.

The victory set up a tie against Cowdenbeath at Allan Park. We lost that one 2-1, a defeat which felt even more painful when the draw two days later sent the Fifers to Ibrox for a money-spinning encounter with Rangers in the next round.

After a two-year gap, Cove returned to the competition and won through against Peterhead and Montrose, before losing narrowly to East Stirlingshire in the third round.

The Falkirk-based side also eliminated us in 1994, and our next three forays into the tournament all ended in heavy defeats.

In 2004-05, Keith Robertson and Colin Milne each scored doubles in a 4-1 victory over Dalbeattie Star, but the run ended abruptly in the next round with a 7-1 home loss to Morton, and there was a similarly comprehensive exit twelve months later to a Gretna side which would go all the way to the Final in 2006, losing only on penalties to Hearts at Hampden.

Cove have played in the Scottish Cup every year since 2007, the run beginning with a 5-0 win over Brora Rangers in which Jamie Watt scored twice, and Reid, Henderson and Whelan also netted. The side went on to beat Keith and Edinburgh University to reach the fourth round for the first time in the club’s history, before falling to Ross County. 4-0 down by half-time, Cove staged a stirring comeback with Watt again scoring a double, but the Dingwall side saw the game out.

The next few seasons featured some disappointing defeats and early exits, but also a run to the third round, ended only by a narrow 2-1 loss to Partick Thistle at Firhill in 2012-13.

In 2014-15, Cove thumped Glasgow University 9-1 and followed that with a 9-0 hammering of Hawick Royal Albert. Those wins, which featured goals from current players, Connor Scully and Blair Yule, set up a home tie against Annan Athletic. Daryll Nicoll gave Cove the lead at Allan Park, but Annan fought back to squeeze through by two goals to one.

Twelve months later, the team went one better, emulating the record of reaching the fourth round, but a Motherwell team featuring the likes of Scott McDonald, Louis Moult and Stephen Pearson proved far too strong.

There was a disappointing defeat at the hands of Bonnyrigg Rose in 2016, but the following season saw Cove Rangers hit new heights.

Mitch Megginson and Jamie Masson earned a victory at Nairn, which the team followed up with their most notable Scottish Cup win up to that point, Scott Ross and Harry Milne scoring late on to secure a 3-2 triumph over Airdrieonians at the Excelsior Stadium.

Formartine were then seen off to clinch a place in the fifth round against Falkirk on Saturday, February 10^th, 2018. The visitors scored early, but Megginson equalised immediately, and it wasn’t until the second half that the Championship side ground out a 3-1 win.

Little over a year later, the then Falkirk manager, Paul Hartley, would take over at Cove and carve a place for himself in the club’s history books.

In both 2018 and 2019, our dreams were ended by Auchinleck Talbot, but the next campaign was to be more memorable. Ryan Strachan scored in the 90^th minute to secure an impressive 3-2 victory over Alloa Athletic at The Indodrill, and that earned the trip to Ibrox the side had missed out on three decades previously.

As luck would have it, with COVID restrictions still in place, there was only a smattering of fans inside the stadium, so Cove once again lost out on a pay-day, and were beaten 4-0.

Season 2021-22 saw the side record another notable success. Rory McAllister’s late equaliser earned a 2-2 draw with Queen of the South, and the team romped to a 3-0 win in the replay at Palmerston, Fyvie opening the scoring and Mitch Megginson adding a second half double.

That clinched a televised tie at Easter Road, and Cove pushed Hibernian all the way, the Premiership outfit relieved to sneak through thanks to Kevin Nisbet netting deep into extra-time.

Our twenty-fifth campaign in the Scottish Cup began against East of Scotland Premier Division outfit Dunipace, a 7-0 win at Balmoral, including four from Gerry McDonagh, but we exited in round four, losing 3-0 at home to Ayr United.

Last season kicked-off with an impressive performance at Forthbank, Mikey Doyle and Connor Scully scoring against Stirling Albion, and after a lengthy delay because of the wintery weather, Scully also netted, and Megginson got two, as we saw off Brora Rangers in extra-time in the Highlands.

That set up a meeting with top-flight side Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, where despite putting on an excellent display, and giving Derek McInnes’ team a few scares, our run ended with a 2-0 defeat.

Now, all eyes are on the meeting with Caley Thistle, and like every one of the other clubs left in the competition, we are dreaming of Scottish Cup glory.

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Mike Pirie »