Cinch Scottish League One: Three Things we Learned as Cove Snatch Dramatic Point
It was another entertaining week in Scotland’s third tier as we move closer to the season’s conclusion with five games to go…
Fyvie rescues a point at the death for Cove to put a dent in Airdrie’s title push
What was hailed by Airdrie boss Ian Murray as ‘the biggest game in the country’ was later described as ‘the cruellest game in the world’ as Fraser Fyvie equalised for the league leaders deep into stoppage time to deny the Diamonds a title-defining victory at the Penny Cars Stadium.
Gabriel McGill struck for the Diamonds seconds into the match and looked certain to seal the win that would’ve cut the deficit at the top to two points and shortened the visitors’ hold on the top spot.
The share of the spoils means it is as you were at the top of the table, as Cove go one step closer to clinching the League One trophy whilst bittersweet Airdrie remains five points behind.
Both teams are on the road next week as Cove travel to face Queen’s Park while Airdrie takes the trip to Methil to visit East Fife.
Airdrieonians manager, Ian Murray: “Losing a late goal, in a game I thought we deserved to win is frustrating, but I honestly thought the players put so much effort into that game, especially in the first-half, they were excellent.”
Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley: “I thought our quality wasn’t as great as it should be, but we needed a goal in the dying minutes and it was an outstanding strike from Fyvie. To get that goal, it was a fantastic feeling for the group.”
Spiders go six points clear in dream start for Coyle with derby win over Clyde
A Robert McHugh goal was enough as Owen Coyle kick-started his Queen’s Park reign as boss with a narrow victory over derby rivals Clyde at Firhill.
The 55-year-old Scotsman was appointed as the Spiders’ new head coach on Friday, replacing Laurie Ellis who was sacked in December of last year. The former Ross County boss, however, isn’t set to officially take over the helm until June 1.
The victory for Coyle’s new charges sees them go six points clear in the fourth spot, ahead of next Sunday’s game at home to league leaders Cove. Meanwhile, defeat for Danny Lennon’s Clyde means they slip to seventh in the table on goal difference, courtesy of Alloa’s 3-0 win over East Fife. The Bully Wee welcome Peterhead to Cumbernauld next week.
Queen’s Park First Team coach, John Potter: “I thought we played well first-half in terms of creating chances and opportunities on goal. Second-half was difficult, but we showed a different side to our game and dug in well. I am delighted with the clean sheet and we deserved the win.”
Clyde manager, Danny Lennon: “We knew it would be an untidy game, we knew it would be a game where we had to compete on a very fiery pitch- and I thought we handled that side of things. I can’t be aggrieved with the commitment, drive and application of the players and thought they played with a lot of energy today.”
Peterhead put distance between the bottom two as Falkirk cut further adrift
Scott Brown struck in the 36th minute to halt Peterhead’s four-game winless run and apply some much-needed distance between Dumbarton in ninth- who drew a stalemate at home to Montrose.
However, defeat for Falkirk sees them suffer a detrimental setback in their aim for a promotion play-off spot, as they now find themselves six points adrift.
As the Bairns hopes now look uncertain, a fourth consecutive season in League One is slowly becoming a reality…
Next Saturday, Falkirk welcomes Montrose to the Falkirk Stadium while Peterhead visits Clyde.
Falkirk Head coach, Martin Rennie: “If we lose the first goal, it seems to be that it has a big, big impact on confidence and it seems to be that the response isn’t quite what we would look for. It’s frustrating and it is so annoying because any time we try and build some momentum like winning two games in a row, we just seem to not be able to do that.”
Scottish League One Results:
Airdrieonians 1-1 Cove Rangers
Dumbarton 0-0 Montrose
East Fife 0-3 Alloa Athletic
Peterhead 1-0 Falkirk
Queen’s Park 1-0 Clyde
Scottish League 1 Table