A fourth minute strike by Declan Glass was all that separated the sides at the Balmoral Stadium on Tuesday night as SPFL 1 side Cove Rangers edged out The Spartans 1-0 in the second Group A tie of the Premier Sports Cup.
Spartans gaffer Douglas Samuel named an unchanged side that defeated Championship outfit Queen’s Park on Saturday.
For hosts Cove Rangers, it was their first competitive game of the season, having been the idle club in Group A in the first round of fixtures.
Unfortunately it didn’t take long for Paul Hartley’s side to make up for lost time and within four minutes, they were to take what turned out to be an unassailable lead.
Fyvie’s delivery into the box found Eguaibor who flicked the ball into the path of Glass who sent a thumping shot beyond Paddy Martin to give the hosts an early advantage.
Spartans looked to respond immediately and Callum Booth’s neat play saw the ball come out to Jamie Dishington who fired narrowly wide.
Another chance for the hosts in the 10th minute saw scorer Glass break the Spartans offside trap to release Megginson however it took a tremendous save by Malt & Hops Man of the Match Paddy Martin to keep the deficit to just that solitary strike.
James Craigen was up next with a long range lobbed effort following an average looking clearance by the home keeper. Unfortunately for the Spartans man, whilst it had the pace, the accuracy meant it strayed wide as it entered its descent towards goal.
Martin needed to look agile when he was called on to make yet another super stop, this time from Glass, tipping the shot over the bar.
HT: The Spartans 0-1 Cove Rangers
It was a relatively subdued start to the second half, with the only opportunity within the opening fifteen minutes falling to the tourists. Bradley Whyte going for a run through the middle of the park before releasing Cammy Russell. His strike was parried by Robbie Mutch, the rebound coming at an unhelpful height for Blair Henderson to get a first time effort to trouble the keeper at the second attempt.
Kevin Waugh was replaced by Kenzi Nair who made his official debut for Spartans. There was a harsh introduction to the game for the summer signing from Hearts when he was caught by a head high boot by Eguaibor which earned the Cove man a yellow card.
A trio of further changes came midway through a tame half with Brogan Walls, Bailey Dall and Mark Stowe replacing Welsh, Booth and Henderson.
Mark Stowe looked to make an early impression, darting into the box but forced into having a difficult angle to finish from. His pass across goal unable to find a fellow Spartan and the home support could breathe another sigh of relief.
The woodwork was to be Spartans friend though, not once, but twice before the final whistle. Meggison was up first, rattling the crossbar, with Eguaibor sending the rebound wide.
Mackie Scott was then introduced with ten to go on the clock, trading places with Jamie Dishington.
Mark Stowe was then crudely taken out on the periphery of the Cove box. Cammy Russell’s free-kick cleared the wall, but curled wide of the post as the sands of time ticked down.
Cove were reduced to 10 for the remainder of the game when Eguaibor was shown a second yellow after a bizarre moment of mayhem. Seconds after hitting the post, the Cove man decided he wanted one of the new City Cabs sponsored jerseys and took to trying to rip one off a Spartans back as he looked to recover the ball. A second yellow was administered and off he trotted for an early shower.
There was one final shout from the visiting bench for a spot kick after Mark Stowe looked to have been wrestled to the ground WWE style inside the penalty area. A ‘racing incident’ in F1 speak appeared to the decision and with that, any hopes of another late comeback were quashed.
FT: Cove Rangers 1-0 The Spartans
A big thanks to the Spartans supporters who made the 250 mile round trip on a Tuesday night to get behind the lads.
We go again on Saturday when we welcome Brechin City to the Vanloq Community Stadium. 3.00pm KO.
