Paul Hartley praised his Cove Rangers side after they narrowly missed out on promotion in a tightly-contested Championship play-off final against Airdrieonians.
After a 2-1 defeat in the first leg at the Balmoral Stadium, Cove arrived in North Lanarkshire needing to overturn a narrow deficit to secure a return to the second-tier, but though they threatened on numerous occasions during a cagey encounter, the second leg ended goalless.
“I can honestly say I’m proud of my players and how they performed – not only over the two legs, but the whole season,” Hartley said.
“We were in the game. We just didn’t have that bit of cutting edge.
“The team have helped me, I’ve enjoyed working with them and we go again.
“For the young players, it’s an experience for them. The loan players will learn from it – it was the biggest game of their careers and hopefully they’ll have many more.
“I’m disappointed not to go up, but that’s just the nature of the game.
“If you’d said at the start of the season that we’d have had a chance to go up via the play-off final, I’d have bitten your hand off for that.
“We’ll get away from each other now. We’ve been in each other’s company for 10-and-a-half months.
“I need away and they need away from me.”
Cove can’t find goal despite going close
Kicking-off in glorious sunshine – with legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson among those watching on – Cove made a lively start as they looked to get back on terms with hosts Airdrie.
However, the first chance of note came for the home side. The ball was neatly worked out to Lewis McGrattan, who stung the palms of visiting goalie Nick Suman with a powerful strike.
Aberdeen loanee Adam Emslie went close for Cove with 14 minutes on the clock after racing on to Fraser Fyvie’s cute through pass, though his shot was kept out by the legs of Cade Melrose.
Cove controlled possession, but rarely tested the Airdrie goalkeeper.
In the final minutes of the first-half, good work from Emslie saw him skip past two Diamonds defenders, before teeing up Blair Yule for a powerful drive that was blocked.
The blistering conditions were proving difficult for both sides in the early stages following the restart.
Just before the hour-mark, Ryan Harrington had a low effort comfortably smothered by the Airdrie keeper following good work from another Dons loanee, Dylan Lobban.
A superb last-ditch tackle from Arron Darge kept Cove in the encounter with 21 minutes remaining, nicking the ball from Adam Frizzell just as he was set to pull the trigger.
Cove were desperately seeking a goal, and Hartley introduced his captain and top-scorer Mitch Megginson in the 70th minute.
Airdrie were still carrying a threat of their own, though – Wilson found room inside the box and then blasted inches past the post with Suman scrambling.
Cove’s Myles Gaffney then sent his cross straight into the grateful arms of Melrose as the minutes ticked away.
Five minutes of additional time served as the Last Chance Saloon for Hartley’s men – but they were unable to profit.
The Diamonds defence lapped up every hopeful delivery, and their fans spilled on to the pitch as the final whistle was sounded to confirm their Championship safety.
Cove Rangers’ Harrington: We need better start next season
Ryan Harrington is certain Cove Rangers will be stronger for their play-off heartache against Airdrie.
The former Everton youth started every one of Cove’s 48 games this season.
It was a campaign which would end on a disappointing note, however.
Following their 2-1 first-leg loss at the Balmoral Stadium, Cove were unable to find a crucial leveller in North Lanarkshire.
“It was a tough one to take – I thought the boys were excellent,” Harrington said.
“We had some really good chances and I thought in patches we controlled the game as well – but just that final bit didn’t work out.
“I genuinely think that if we did get that big chance, we would have gone on and won the game. But we lacked that little bit of cutting edge from everyone.
“It wasn’t just the attackers – we threw on centre-halves upfront towards the end.
“We’ve got a young group and then some older players as well. Everyone’s helping each other.
“The older boys have been fantastic with the younger boys this year.
“I think the young boys have come on in leaps and bounds from the start of the season. They were very young and naive maybe at times, especially with the start we had.
“Since Christmas, everyone’s really kicked on and we’ve had a fantastic finish to the season.”
The 26-year-old is looking forward to a break, before returning for another shot at League One.
Cove will be one of the favourites for promotion next term given their strong second half of the season, coupled with the core of experience within their squad.
Harrington, who knows exactly where they much improve in the new term, said: “We’ve got to take next season as a clean slate and hopefully have a better start.”
Conversation