Cinch Scottish League One: Three Things we Learned
It was another action-packed week in League One, as teams entered the final quarter of the season…
Cove hit five past Peterhead to remain five points clear at the top
A spot-kick from Rory McAllister and strike from Mitch Megginson in the first ten minutes gave the home side a comfortable lead in the early stages. Hamish Ritchie pulled one back for the Blue Toon shortly after, before Megginson struck in the 21st minute as the hosts regained their two-goal advantage.
In the second-half, a brace from Harry Milne had the league leaders in full control going into the closing stages, despite Russell McLean replying for the visitors seven minutes from time.
It is the second defeat in the space of seven days for the Blue Toon, who remain in eighth, a point below Alloa, and two points in front of Dumbarton, who are seventh and ninth respectively.
Victory for Paul Hartley’s men sees them maintain their five-point cushion over nearest challengers Airdrie, who beat Alloa Athletic 2-0 at the Indodrill Stadium.
It is now 18 games unbeaten for the Toonsers’ who welcome Clyde to the Balmoral Stadium next week, while Peterhead are also at home to third-top Montrose.
Cove Rangers manager, Paul Hartley: “I didn’t think we were brilliant in the first-half. It was disappointing to concede the two goals, but some of our combination play was really good. For any successful team you’ve got to have strikers who score goals. We’ve got two of the best in the business at this level. You’re only as good as your front players and ours are excellent.”
Peterhead boss, Jim McInally: “We didn’t defend well enough. Every time they went forward, they looked like they were going to score. We were letting runners go in the middle of the park, which is a wee bit of naivety. We just take our medicine and move onto next week.”
Jamieson is the hero as Clyde snatch point against Falkirk
Lewis Jamieson scored his second goal in two games as he struck in the 90th minute to rescue a point for the Bully Wee at Broadwood Stadium.
Paul Watson had the visitors ahead in the 27th minute, who looked likely to claim a narrow win, before Jamieson scored at the death to equalise for the Cumbernauld side.
For Danny Lennon’s Clyde, it is their third consecutive draw and stretches their winless run to five matches, despite having only lost twice in their past 16 league matches.
The Bully Wee remain sixth in the table, seven points clear of relegation trouble and nine adrift of the promotion play-offs.
Meanwhile, for Falkirk, they are five points adrift off the promotion play-offs. A win would’ve seen them cut the gap to three points and secure back-to-back wins for the first time since August.
Next week, Clyde travel up the A90 to face league leaders Cove, while Falkirk welcome Airdrieonians to the Falkirk Stadium.
Clyde manager, Danny Lennon: “I thought we were excellent during the second-half, from start to finish. I think to get that goal as late on as we did, it sometimes feels like a victory, but in the same token, it's disappointing to lose two points, because our form has been good. I thought we were more than comfortable in the first-half, we maxed a good Falkirk side. We are delighted to pick up another valuable point, it’s another game ticked off the list and gives us something to build upon.”
Falkirk head coach, Martin Rennie: “I think the first-half we played quite well and created quite a few chances, so we came into half-time pretty positive.
Second-half was much more of a battle, but we created a lot of really good chances, and if we had got that second goal, it would’ve been enough to win the game. We didn’t pull it off, and I think that’s the frustrating thing today, it was a good chance to get two wins in a row and get a bit of momentum, so, we’ve missed that opportunity.”
Queen’s breeze past Dumbarton to strengthen play-off hopes
A brace from Luca Connell in the first-half, followed by a strike from Louis Longridge 15 minutes from time sealed the three points for the hosts as they gain back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
It is also only one loss in 10 matches for the Spiders, who having won their game in hand against Peterhead in midweek and courtesy of Falkirk’s draw with Clyde- now find themselves five points clear in fourth place and six points behind Montrose, who drew at home against East Fife.
For Stevie Farrell’s Dumbarton, they continue to occupy the relegation play-offs in ninth, after what is their third consecutive defeat.
Queen’s Park, Director of Football, Marijn Beuker: “It’s a really good win, the players did a really good job, so I’m very happy with our second win in a row. But, once again we are never satisfied, we have another eight games before we can reach the play-offs, so we keep on going, but we have to take a moment to celebrate this victory.”
Scottish League One Results:
Alloa Athletic 0-2 Airdrieonians
Clyde 1-1 Falkirk
Cove Rangers 5-2 Peterhead
Dumbarton 0-3 Queen’s Park
Montrose 0-0 East Fife
Scottish League One Table:
