Persistence key for leaders Cove Rangers as home record rolls on, Hartley says

Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley hailed his side’s persistence as they eventually broke down a resilient Brechin City to maintain their unbeaten home record.

Bottom-of-the-league Brechin held Cove at bay for 78 minutes before goals from Mitch Megginson, Declan Glass and Scott Ross gave the scoreline the look the home side’s play deserved.

It means they have still yet to drop a point at home in League 2, with Edinburgh City’s late winner against Albion Rovers keeping the gap at the top of the table at five points.

Cove are finding more opponents are coming to the Balmoral Stadium to frustrate them but patience paid off for the league leaders on Saturday afternoon.

Hartley said: “We had all the play and the possession. We had a lot of chances – something like 18 chances in the first half. We weren’t clinical enough and we were a bit loose.

“We were slack with our passing at times but credit to the players – they were persistent and kept going.

“We had to make a change and went two up. We’re going to face this most home games where teams are going to have a low block against us and be hard to break down. They had a good gameplan and stuck to it pretty well. But we were persistent and patient.”

Megginson had the first sight of goal in the first half, clipping over the top after a one-two with Fraser Fyvie, as Cove started the game on the front foot.

Brechin’s on-loan St Johnstone goalkeeper had done his best to frustrate Cove, making a string of saves in the first half.

He kept out Fraser Aird and Fraser Fyvie with saves at his near post, before denying Glass with a superb low stop on a shot that was bound for the bottom corner.

Connor Scully’s deflected strike from the edge of the area looked to have beaten Sinclair but he adjusted his body quickly and kept the scores level at the break.

A well-worked free-kick between Fyvie and Megginson still could not breach the Brechin defence, with Sinclair out quickly to smother.

The visitors’ massed ranks began to frustrate Cove but their probing eventually reaped rewards on 78 minutes, with Martin Scott touching Fyvie’s pass into Megginson to smash home.

Glass capped a mercurial performance five minutes later with a wonderful solo effort, beating the keeper from the edge of the box, before Ross looped a header beyond Sinclair from a Glass corner to round off a solid afternoon’s work.

Hartley added: “We say to them every week that teams are going to sit in, be compact, have bodies behind the ball and frustrate you.”

Cove’s only dropped points this season have come on the road, with a 4-4 draw with Albion Rovers and a defeat to Stenhousemuir. They now have 11 wins from their first 13 games, ahead of a lengthy trip to Annan Athletic next week.

Edinburgh City, meanwhile, travel to Queen’s Park, after Blair Henderson’s stoppage-time penalty gave them victory at home to Rovers.