Cove Rangers and Paul Hartley will not be getting carried away despite taking a big step towards winning the League One title.
A second-half double from Harry Milne earned Cove a 2-0 win against Falkirk and thanks to Montrose holding Airdrieonians, the gap at the top is now five points with three to play.
The league-leaders were rarely troubled on Saturday afternoon and even though they were without a recognised striker for most of the game, Milne’s goalscoring prowess saw them home.
Cove can now seal the League One title – and a third promotion in four seasons – should they beat Dumbarton at home next Saturday and Airdrieonians lose to Dumbarton.
But Hartley is not getting carried away and will not rest until the job is done.
“We’re in a good position but I’ve been involved in this before as a player and manager. You can’t get too carried away,” said Hartley.
“We haven’t done anything yet. It’s about next week now against Alloa. We’ll treat that as our next biggest game now.
“It’s a little bonus (Airdrieonians dropping points) but I’ve always said we can’t control anybody else. We can only control our own destiny.
“To win was great and for Airdrie to drop some points makes it a good day for us. But we won’t get carried away, we know how football can turn quickly.”
Cove were already without Mitch Megginson for the game due to a groin injury and they lost fellow forward Rory McAllister after 10 minutes of action.
With just three games remaining, Hartley hopes neither absence is a prolonged one.
“It’s Rory’s calf,” he said. “We hope it’s not too bad. Hopefully Megginson will be fit for next week.
“It was either miss one game or miss four for Mitch. We need to keep them as fresh as we can.
“We’ve used the whole squad all season and that’s what we’ll need to do between now and the end of the season.”
The first half was low on quality and chances, with Leighton McIntosh having the best of them cleared by Falkirk goalkeeper Robbie Mutch.
When the goal came from Milne nine minutes into the second half, he showed all the instincts of seasoned forward to put it away.
Shay Logan rolled the ball out of his feet and stood the ball up to the back post superbly, where Milne had peeled off and he directed a header back across goal into the far corner.
One became two five minutes later and Milne was again the beneficiary of poor Falkirk defending.
Mutch bowled the ball out towards Keighan Jacobs who was immediately put under pressure by Milne. The wing-back stole possession and angled a glorious shot back across the Falkirk stopper into the far corner.
Bar a save late on from Stuart McKenzie to deny Leigh Griffiths, Cove’s defence was rarely troubled by a shot-shy Bairns.
“We’d worked on the one for Harry coming in at the back post in training,” said Hartley. “We just needed a bit better quality.
“Shay puts in a great ball and then we go in with a great press (for the second) and it’s a great finish. Harry has got that, he’s got real quality.