Cove Rangers vs Stenhousemuir

Match Report

Despite a dreich day in Aberdeen the Warriors battled bravely to earn a point against arguably the best attack in the league.

With a second vs third place tie, on a paper it promised to be an exciting game, however on the pitch both teams struggled to get their foot on the ball and create any real opportunity.

The only shot for either side came in the 19th minute for Ross Taylor who, from outside the box, watched as his shot fired over the bar.

A first half that both teams may have been disappointed with, but with weather conditions deteriorating, the second half became a bit cagier with neither side desiring to throw away their point. However, the Warriors did chase for all three points with Gary making 4 attacking changes.

It took both teams a while to get going in the second half, but substitute McLuckie arguably had the best chance to pinch all three points. After he cut the ball back in the 68th minute, nobody could believe that the goalie got studs to his low shot, to keep the goal bound strike out.

Matty Aitken, who is still finding his feet after returning from injury, also had a great chance to pull the Warriors ahead but the goalie was quick off his line to deny him a goal.

Cove huffed and puffed but created very little going forward and when gifted a freekick late on in the half, they wasted their opportunity to take advantage in front of a home crowd.

Even although both teams gained a point, it is still a stalemate at the top of the table with no movement in position for the top three over the weekend. Next weekend, the valiant Warriors march on as they return to the powerhouse of Ochilview to take on Montrose. Please make sure you join us for our first of two successive home ties and stay up to date via all our social media channels.

Match Report by Louise Davidson

Photographs by Thomas Gorman

Preview 

The Warriors enter into Saturday’s game hungry for more points as they push to get back on track.

Warriors, this weekend we travel to Aberdeen to face Cove Rangers who are looking stronger than ever as they are gunning for promotion this season. Though the two teams have only faced each other on nine occasions, there have been plenty of goals for both sides, amassing a total of 36 in this fixture.

Some of the most memorable Warriors’ victories have come against Cove Rangers and ahead of this fixture it is only right to revisit them. 16 years ago, the Warriors recorded one of their biggest wins as they took on Cove for the first time and ran riot in Balmoral Stadium, putting 5 goals past the Highland League side.

Fast forward to the current season and the Warriors mustered another tremendous result in November at the Aberdeenshire stadium in a resounding 0-3 win. Three Stenny front men got their names on the scoresheet that day (Aitken, Tomlinson and O’Donnell) and loanee Scott Tomlinson bagged his first Warriors goal.

A goal for O’Donnell, on this occasion, sent him on his way to a fantastic scoring streak, where he netted 8 goals in 12 games.  Another result like this on Saturday would see us jump above Cove in the league table and gain ground on league leaders Arbroath.

Cove’s recent run in form

The Aberdeenshire side have found their feet in the league again after a shaky start to their season and have registered 8 wins in their last 12 leagues games whilst accumulating 28 goals in these 12 fixtures.

Cove danger man and league top scorer, Mitch Megginson, will be eager to bolster his efforts as top scorer this weekend, whilst also aiming to retain his position as top scorer in this fixture with four goals.

The 32-year-old striker is showing no signs of letting up having bagged two goals and an assist in his last five games-a dangerous player to watch ahead of this game on Saturday.

This is a tie that is not to be missed, so please make sure you join us in Aberdeen this weekend for the highly anticipated second vs third place game-a game that is destined to provide entertainment and endless emotion. As always, your support is vital to Gary and the boys. Make sure you stay up to date via all our social media channels.

Kick off: 5:30pm 22nd March

Location: Balmoral Stadium

Match Preview by Louise Davidson