The Cove Rangers which rose through the leagues were known for style and substance. This season it has been difficult to marry the two.
Goals have flown freely but at the wrong end. Their attacking prowess has not been as sharp as it has been in years past.
Boiling the situation down to its simplest form, that is why Cove where they are. Chances are not being converted and errors at the back are being brutally punished.
‘We just need everybody on board’
“We can’t afford to be losing goals – that’s been the story of our season,” said defender Morgyn Neill. “We’ve not been as much of a threat at the other end as we’ve been used to.
“We’ve got enough to do it. We just need everybody on board together to roll their sleeves up.
“We will want to keep the ball and play the attractive way we played last year. We’ve not done that much this year.
“But we’re not daft; we’re playing against better players and full-time teams this year.
“There’s only a couple of players from last year that aren’t in our team – Harry (Milne) and Rory (McAllister). But at the same time, Rory didn’t play week in week out.
“We’ve got a team there that can compete with most Championship teams. But it comes down to confidence. A lot has happened this year, with the management team leaving then coming back.”
Conceding goals
The problem of conceding late goals has been endemic for Cove this season.
Valuable points have been dropped against Morton (twice), Hamilton Accies, Arbroath and Partick Thistle, which could have given Cove’s campaign an altogether rosier look.
“When games are tight, in the last five minutes, you give nothing away,” added Neill. “It’s just about concentration and be relentless that way.
“When you’ve got a few minutes to go, the ones that would tend to switch off or have a lapse in concentration is probably your forward players or your midfielders.
“You can’t afford to do that as a defender. If you have a rubbish game and score the winner – more often than not that’ll be an attacker – they’ll be the star of the team.
“A defender could play well for 85 minutes then make a mistake. You’re remembered for that mistake, not how well you’ve played before that.”
Cove v Dundee
Cove welcome Dundee north this weekend, less than a month after the two sides met at Dens Park.
Dundee ran out 3-0 winners on that occasion but Neill sees no reason why Cove cannot assertive themselves against the promotion hopefuls.
“Their budget is bigger than some of the teams in the top flight,” he said. “They should be winning this league comfortably but they’re not.
“They had a bad result against Partick and we’ve got to take some belief from that.
“We know what our strengths are and we can cause them a wee bit of bother. At the same time, we know what their strengths are.
“We’re not going to turn up to sit in, or weather the storm. We’ve got to take the game to them because it’s our home game.”
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