Cove Rangers v Peterhead

Cove Rangers v Peterhead

Nov 13, 2021

Peterhead fail to sparkle in Granite City

Nov 14, 2021

Cove Rangers 3

Peterhead 0

Peterhead failed to sparkle in the Granite City as they went down 3-0 to Cove Rangers at the Balmoral Stadium.

The Blue Toon were wearing their new red style away kit for the first time and hopes that they prosper in the second half after reaching the break goalless, despite plenty of home pressure, faded as Ryan Strachan opened the scoring and Mitch Megginson netted a double.

 

Manager Jim McInally made two changes to his starting line-up with player/ coach Simon Ferry coming in for the injured Hamish Ritchie and Niah Payne returning from injury in place of Grant Savoury who was on the bench alongside the fit-again Jordon Brown.

A minutes’ silence for Remembrance Day was observed before the game got going and, in its infancy, Peterhead were forced into a change with Ferry aggravating an ankle injury that saw him replaced by Ryan Conroy.

Cove looked to advantage quickly of Peterhead having to reorganise with Megginson going close and Jamie Masson striking the post.

Blair Yule was next to threaten the visitors’ goal with his long-range effort creeping over the bar before Cove hit the woodwork again with Megginson rattling the bar.

As the one-way traffic continued Rory McAllister got the better of Jason Brown before bearing down on Brett Long’s goal with the shot-stopper producing a fine stop.

David Wilson was the next to help Peterhead stay level as he cleared a Megginson effort off the line with McInally’s men surviving one more scare before the half-time whistle sounded when Cove shouted for a penalty however referee Calum Scott was not interested.

The Blue Toon were unable to get a foothold in the second half as with just three minutes in Megginson got past Long with Flynn Duffy producing a block every bit as good as Wilson’s.

The breakthrough finally came from the resultant corner when Strachan turned into Iain Vigurs’ flag-kick.

Megginson clipped the woodwork with 20 minutes left however the former Aberdeen man was not to be denied and on 79 minutes he found the net from a Masson pass.

Substitutes Derek Lyle and Grant Savoury tried their best to lift Peterhead in the closing stages with Lyle forcing Stuart McKenzie into a save from a header and Savoury finding a way past the Cove goalkeeper only for Scott Ross to pop up and clear.

In injury time Long was judged to have fouled Leighton McIntosh and Megginson completed the scoring from the resultant penalty.

Peterhead – Long, D Wilson, Jason Brown (Savoury 57), McDonald, Mulligan, McCarthy, Ferry (Conroy 3), Scott Brown, Duffy, McLean (Lyle 56), Payne

Unused substitutes – Cameron, Strachan, Jordon Brown, L Wilson (G/k)

Cove Rangers v Peterhead

Jan 2, 2021

Nine man Blue Toon almost pull off rescue act

Jan 2, 2021

Cove Rangers 1

McAllister (2)

Peterhead 0

 

Peterhead could have had a day to forget at Cove Rangers as they lost a goal to a former favourite with less than two minutes played and then had two players dismissed before an hour had been played.

However the remaining players rallied and despite losing 1-0 they stuck to their task well and almost came up with a goal to rescue something from the game.

Jordon Brown made a quick-fire starting debut for Peterhead against hosts Cove Rangers with Ryan Conroy and Andrew McCarthy returning to action with Kyle Bailey and Gary Fraser dropping out of the matchday squad and Gary MacKenzie moving to the bench.

The game got off to a terrible start for the Blue Toon with a very familiar face being the worst kind of first-footer after just two minutes. With little more than 90 seconds played McCarthy was penalised for a foul on Mitch Megginson which Fraser Fyvie whipped into the area and Rory McAllister was there to head home.

The former Peterhead hero almost grabbed his second of the afternoon when he was through on goal on 10 minutes however Joshua Rae was able to block.

Peterhead’s hopes of getting back into the game quickly took a hit midway through the first half when Simon Ferry was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Megginson which despite Jason Brown being close in attendance was deemed to be denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

Rae helped his side out again on 36 minutes when he was able to push away a well-hit effort from Jamie Masson with the former Aberdeen midfielder heading over on 41 minutes.

As Cove continued to press another ex-Blue Toon player Leighton McIntosh sent an effort just wide however Steven Boyd gave the hosts something to think about three minutes from the break with a quick turn and shot that just cleared the bar.

Peterhead’s start to the second half was also damaging as Boyd picked up the second red card of the afternoon on 52 minutes after dissent towards referee Peter Stuart.

With 20 minutes left another familiar face Scott Ross had a chance against the nine men however his effort was scooped up by Rae.

Despite how the game had gone Peterhead kept on battling and remarkably they came close to an equaliser when the ball was worked to Alan Cook at the edge of his box and his low drive was pushed past for a corner by Cove goalkeeper Stuart McKenzie.

Ryan Conroy also hit a shot goalward from a free-kick in the hope of a leveller however McKenzie saved again.

 

Peterhead  – Rae, Freeman, Ferry, Jason Brown, Conroy, McCarthy, Scott Brown, Jordon Brown, Cameron, Cook, Boyd

Unused substitutes – MacKenzie, Kesson, Bakar, Wilson (G/k)