Mitch Megginson’s brace saw Cove Rangers rescue a point against a Kelty Hearts side that looked to have taken the honours at Balmoral Stadium, having taken a two goal first-half lead.
Adam Corbett opened the scoring when he headed home from Billy Owens corner before Owens turned from provider to scorer with a fabulous strike in the 35th minute.
Two minutes later Cove skipper Megginson reduced the deficit with an equally impressive effort.
Seven minutes after the restart, Megginson levelled from the penalty spot after he’d been brought down in the area to complete the scoring.
The visitors were reduced to ten men late on when Jason Thomson was sent off for a foul on Cove substitute Scott Williamson.
Former Aberdeen midfielder Fraser Fyvie, who returned following eight months on the sidelines and played for more than three quarters of the match, said: “It was great to be back and I lasted a little bit longer than I thought I would.
“Obviously it was good to stop the rot a little bit.
“My last competitive fixture was back in January but I’ve worked hard to come back, had a few setbacks along the way but delighted to return.
“I thought we played really well. We didn’t start well going two down but the heads didn’t go down and we had enough experience on the pitch to get us back in the game.
“We went to a back three and Blair Yule and myself coming back gave a little bit more experience to the team.
“We were a little bit calmer in possession than we have been lately.
“We gave a really good account of ourselves all over the park and we showed some character to get back into the game.
“There’s no doubt experience matters, especially when you’re in the type of situation that we’ve been in.
“Young lads coming in just learning their trade, it helps when we’re out there helping them.
“There’s been a lot of changes but we’ve all been here long enough now that we need to start putting some points on the board.
“That’s the main objective for everybody so we’ve done that although we would have liked and probably should have had the three points.
“They only had two shots on goal in the first half and we had umpteen chances which we couldn’t convert.
🗣️ Fraser Fyvie reflects on this afternoon's draw with Kelty Hearts & his return from injury.#CRFC
— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) September 16, 2023
“We’ll take the draw having come back from two down and we look forward to next weekend’s trip to Edinburgh City.
“That was probably our best performance of the season in terms of playing with the ball and our movement as well as the partnerships throughout the team from back, middle to front.
“It’s how the manager wants and likes us to play and I think that was there.”
