League Preview: Cove Rangers (Away, 8th September 2022)

Club Previous Meetings

Dundee and Cove Rangers have never met in a league game, so this will be history in the making for both sides. However, Dundee and Cove Rangers have played each other in friendlies and Cup games.

The first cup meeting was in the Scottish League Cup group stages in group D on the 17th of July 2019. While James McPakes men had a majority of the possession, the game ended in a 0-0 draw.  The Dark Blues won the bonus point with a 3-2 win on penalties. Spot kick goals from Paul McGowan, Declan McDaid and Jordan McGhee.

Both the Dark Blues and Cove Rangers were placed into same competition the following year and played behind closed doors due to Covid.

James McPakes side won 3 – 0, Paul McGowan gave the Dee an early lead and the game was wrapped up with late goals from Danny Mullen and a Charlie Adam penalty.

Cove Rangers had to play for most of the second half with nine men, as Blair Yule and Jamie Masson were sent off either side of half time. Charlie Adam however missed from the spot after the first red card incident.

Cove Rangers Information

Cove have only one of their last six matches, this was in their opening game against Raith Rovers on Saturday 30th of July where they won 2-0. Both goals were scored by striker Mitchel Megginson.

Since winning this match, Cove’s fortunes have been very different and have not won a match since.

Former Dundee manager Jim McIntyre’s side have drawn once and lost four time and currently sit second bottom of the Championship just above Arbroath.

However, they have lost most of their games since the opening of the season. Loses against Queens Park, Ayr United, Inverness Thistle and Morton. Cove Rangers last fixture against Hamilton at home was a 2-2 draw.

Cove Rangers top goal scorer is Leighton McIntosh with two goals under his belt this season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cove_Rangers_F.C.

Familiar Faces

There will also be a list of familiar faces within the Cove ranks this weekend. The whole of the Cove Rangers management team will be well known to the Dees. They feature Jim McIntyre, Jimmy Boyle, Fitness coach Tam Ritchie and goal keeping coach Derek Soutter.

It seems like a case of history repeating itself. Jim McIntyre has taken over the manager reign from Paul Hartley twice, once at Dundee and again after Hartly left Cover Rangers.

The fact McIntyre is a Dundee United fans favourite, meant he wasn’t a popular appointment with Dees.

He didn’t improve his reputation after racking up just four wins in 31 games in charge and was sacked in May 2019 after the club were relegated.

Former players Kyle Gourlay and Leighton McIntosh will most likely face their old club this Friday night. McIntosh, meanwhile, will be remembered for scoring THE goal which capped off the Dee-fiant season, scoring the winner against Ross County to secure Dundee’s First Division status in 2011.

Cove Rangers

Cove Rangers was founded in 1922 and played in the local amateur leagues until 1985, when they became a junior team. However, the club applied and were accepted to the senior Highland Football League in 1986, where they played until winning promotion to Scottish Football League division 2 in May 2019, after beating Berwick Rangers 7–0 on aggregate in the pyramid playoff.

Paul Hartley joined newly promoted Scottish League Two club Cove Rangers in July 2019, succeeding John Sheran as manager.

In their first season the SPFL, they won League Two after the season was terminated early due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In their first League One campaign, Cove narrowly lost out on promotion by 4 points to eventual winners Partick Thistle, finishing 3rd in the League and losing 4–3 on aggregate to Airdrieonians in the Play-offs.

In the following season, Cove won the League One title by 7 points, only losing 3 league games all season, securing promotion to the Scottish Championship for the first time in their history.

After immediately guiding the club to win promotion in his first season and reaching League One play-offs in his second one, he led Cove to another promotion in the 2021-22 league campaign, as the club won the League One title and progressed to the Scottish Championship.

Stadium

From 1948 to 2015 Cove played at Allan Park, which was located in Cove. The ground had a capacity of 2300 spectators, with 200 on seats or benches.

Cove moved to newly built Balmoral Stadium which was opening in July 2018. From 2021, it is being shared by Scottish Women's Premier League team Aberdeen.

Balmoral Stadium surface is Artificial 4G Turf.