The Cove Rangers journey is one that has accelerated in the right direction without too many twists and turns.
Tonight’s SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final against Queen of the South will be another way-point on the road towards their destination, which come the end of the season could be the Championship.
Cove have the chance to reach their first major final since joining the SPFL in 2019. In that time they have already won a league Championship – League Two in 2020 – and are in the driving seat for a second title in the next two months.
While the players have tasted success as a group already, for this group the biggest trophy is always the next one.
“You’re one game away from a final, considering where Cove have come from over the last few years, the journey they’ve been on,” said Hartley. “You don’t want to lose semi-finals. We know it’ll be a difficult game.
“We spoke about it after the game on Saturday. The majority of lads have been on the journey from the Highland League – it doesn’t matter what final it is, you want to try and get there and lead the team out.
“We’re on a bit of a journey and still have a lot of hard work to do in the league. This is a fantastic opportunity for the club because there’s a lot of good people behind-the-scenes, who have been there for a number of years. It’ll be special for the chairman if we’re able to get there.”
Cove thumped Rangers B 5-1 in the last round to get to the last four, where they will meet familiar opponents.
The two met in the Scottish Cup at the end of last year, drawing 2-2 at the Balmoral Stadium before turning Queens over 3-0 on their own patch in the replay.
“They’re all full-time,” said Hartley. “I saw our lads on Saturday and the next time will be tonight. They can work with their players most days, ours are only two nights a week.
“But the players are ready and they’ll be fired up. It’ll be a tough game but one we’re looking forward to.
“We’ve got good players, that’s the key thing for us. Lads that have got great experience – (Mark) Reynolds was the captain at Dundee United last year, (Iain) Vigurs was the captain at Ross County.
“The top end of the pitch is key and we’ve got two guys who’ve scored nearly 40 goals between them. Hopefully that’ll be the key component tonight.”
Cove earned plaudits for their Scottish Cup performance against Hibernian last month, with the game screened live on BBC Scotland.
BBC Alba will pick up the game in the north-east tonight and Hartley and his players will be in the spotlight once again.
“The club have been on this journey over the last few years,” he said. “Their main aim when they were in the Highland League was to get into the football league and they’ve done that.
“There’s good things happening at Cove just now and we want to continue the hard work that everyone’s doing.”
Jamie Durent: Cove Rangers set for another night in cup spotlight