Rory McAllister’s second-half penalty ensured Cove Rangers finished their Betfred Cup group with a win against 10-man Forfar Athletic.
McAllister capitalised where skipper Mitch Megginson had slipped up, with the latter seeing an earlier spot-kick saved by Forfar’s Daniel Hoban.
Stuart Malcolm’s side later had Sam Fisher sent off, with the result seeing them finish bottom of Group B.
Fraser Fyvie made his first start of the season, after six weeks out with a knee injury, with Blair Yule and Jamie Masson missing out through suspension.
68’ | #CRFC 1-0 FAFC
GOAL! McAllister wins the penalty and makes no mistake from the spot to give us the lead!#CRFCLive pic.twitter.com/Js8ffTZgK8
— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) November 14, 2020
Forfar came to the Balmoral Stadium in the league last weekend and were beaten 3-0, however they started in a more positive fashion here.
Chris Antoniazzi, who had a brief loan spell at Cove last season before being released by Aberdeen, cut back for Florent Hoti, with Stuart McKenzie kicking away his first-time shot.
The home side were finding gaps to exploit in the Forfar defence, with an excellent take-down and lay-off from Seb Ross finding Megginson, who did not catch his shot cleanly.
In an action-packed start to the second half, Cove were indebted to a superb stop from McKenzie to keep out a point-blank effort from centre-back Sam Fisher.
The Forfar man was then in the thick of things at the other end, as he was adjudged to have handled Adam Livingstone’s cross by referee Duncan Williams. Goalkeeper Daniel Hoban came to the Loons’ rescue, with the ex-Caley Thistle youngster keeping out Megginson’s spot-kick.
Cove were awarded a second penalty of the afternoon on 68 minutes after Fisher missed Ryan Strachan’s through ball to McAllister, with Hoban chopping down the big striker. Megginson handed duties over to McAllister, who sent Hoban the wrong way.
Fisher was given his second yellow with 10 minutes to go for bringing down Jordon Brown at the edge of the box and after a well-worked free-kick, Megginson drew a top reflex save out of Hoban.
A late rally from the away side caused Cove some worry, with Strachan required to clear off the line twice, first from Murray Mackintosh and then from a Hoti corner that evaded everyone.
But Cove finish the group stage in third with five points, after a bonus-point win over Brora Rangers.