A Son of the Rock

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 29/1/22.

This was encouraging even if Cove were clearly the better team. They passed the ball well, seemed confident in possession, looked as if they had been together for years (which they have by and large) and absolutely brimmed with the confidence you’d expect from the league leaders.

But we were never completely out of it.

We played against the wind in the first half and coped well with it, though without making their keeper do much. Sam Ramsbottom, too, had no more than a couple of things to deal with. Five minutes before half-time we got a penalty when Ross MacLean (reprieved from his ban by the reversal of last week’s red card) sucked ex-Son Morgyn Neill into tripping him at the bye-line in the box. At this point my live stream started buffering so I missed Carsy’s conversion. One nil up at half-time is an unusual experience for Sons latterly but very welcome.

I was less sanguine six minutes into the second half. They were given a penalty that no-one in the ground or watching on the stream could see a reason for – bar the ref. 1-1.

Cove immediately looked in total control and scored again. A cross ball found their man on the right in too much space. His cross was deflected up and Sam Ramsbottom could only tip the ball across the six-yard area where it was scrambled into the net. Game unxpectedly on its head inside two minutes. From then on I had no hope whatsoever of getting something from the game. We couldn’t seem to get a decent out ball. As soon as we cleared it it would come back. Passes forward were hit too long (the wind contributing but account ought to be taken of that) or not to feet.

But despite their dominance Cove didn’t score the goal that would have killed the game though they had a glorious chance which their player somehow managed to scoop over the bar from about six yards.

Towards the end we started to penetrate their half more. It was good to see the team hadn’t resigned themselves to a defeat. Then we got what was perhaps a lucky second penalty when Carlo Pignatiello was adjudged to have been fouled in their box at a fifty-fifty. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the free-kick go the other way. But it was about time our luck changed.

Carsy despatched his second pen of the game superbly, so notching his first brace ever. All his goals this season – his best scoring – have come from set-pieces. I think it makes him our joint top scorer. He has four.

Our next three games are away against teams above us in the table. We’ll need to take something from those. How that will work out we’ll need to see.

The team ought to take encouragement from this performance though.