Having suffered an uncharacteristic 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Annan Athletic last weekend, Saturday’s visit to Edinburgh City was inevitably going to be seen as a major test of character for the Cove Rangers players.
Although they succumbed to a narrow defeat by the Capital side, who now sit two points behind them in the title race, both striker Martin Scott and manager Paul Hartley came away from Ainslie Park in positive mood following a spirited performance against their main promotion rivals.
Scott said: “I think when you analyse the game, losing two goals from set-plays in the first 20 minutes was a killer blow. It was a decent performance from us but when you switch off for even a split second you can get penalised and that’s what happened today.
“Fair play to Edinburgh City, they were tactically sound and had clearly worked on their set plays but overall they didn’t give us too many problems.
“We’re still top of the league and other teams in the division were probably hoping we’d cut each other’s throats and let them close the gap but there were two quality teams out there today.”
Cove started brightly with Ryan Strachan testing City keeper Aidan McAdams early on but the home side took the lead in nine minutes when Liam Henderson sent a powerful header beyond Stuart McKenzie following a well-placed free-kick from Craig Thomson.
Things looked bleak for the league leaders on the half hour when Henderson made it 2-0, once again heading home from Thomson’s cross, but Scott pulled one back almost immediately when he fired a fierce shot past McAdams after being set up by Blair Yule.
Scott Ross then saw his header touched on to the crossbar by the in-form McAdams and for the remainder of the game it was one way traffic towards the Edinburgh goal as Cove battled for an equaliser.
Ross headed narrowly over the bar early in the second half, Jamie Mason saw his low shot slip past McAdams’ right-hand post and Scott’s goal-bound header 10 minutes from time was met by a miraculous save from the home keeper.
Cove boss Paul Hartley said: “Their goalkeeper made some terrific saves and we were done by two set-pieces which we didn’t defend well – that’s what cost us.
“Overall I’m pleased with the players. I knew I’d get a reaction from them after last week’s defeat, they always give you that.
“Their attitude was first class and it’s important that you bounce back from disappointment.”
Hartley, who was only able to list four substitutes due to injury difficulties at the club, expressed satisfaction that, despite the disappointment of back-to-back defeats, his team still sat at the top of the Championship table.
He said: “We’ve got ourselves into a nice position but we’re in this for the long haul.
“It’s a tough league and there are no easy games.”