Sean Risk Sport

Cove Rangers rescued a 3-3 draw against 10 man Montrose at Balmoral Stadium. A hattrick from David Eguaibor cancelled out a brace from Ewan Loudon and a stunning effort from Callum Sandilands.

Preview

Both sides came into this game with 0 points from their opening 2 League 1 fixtures, with Cove losing to Queen of the South and Stenhousemuir, while Montrose suffered defeats to Hamilton Accies and Kelty Hearts.

Cove drew 1-1 with Spartans in their opening game in the new KDM Evolution Trophy on Tuesday night after Arron Darge’s opener was cancelled out by Mark Stowe.

Montrose got off to a flyer on Tuesday night with a 5-2 victory over Dundee B thanks to first half braces from Ewan Loudon and Callum Sandilands, plus a goal from Ross Clark in between. Chris Rooney and Leo Howett pulled 2 back for Dundee B in the second half.

Action right from the start

It didn’t take long for the action to begin as a misplaced pass from Justin Eguaibor was capitalised on by Ewan Loudon to give the Gable Endies an early lead after just 4 minutes.

However it didn’t take long for Paul Hartley’s men to respond as a great ball in from the returning Declan Glass was tapped home by David Eguaibor to put Cove back on level terms with 7 minutes played.

The moment of controversy was when Kier Bertie was shown a straight red card to put Montrose down to 10 men after a coming together with Layton Bisland after 21 minutes of play.

Cove then took the lead on 41 minutes as David Eguaibor got his second after his first effort was saved but fell back to his feet and the rebound was tucked away.

Montrose weren’t done yet however as Callum Sandilands took a free kick from way out which sailed over everyone in the area and into the back of the net to put them back on level terms after 56 minutes despite being a man down. It would then get even better for the Gable Endies as Ewan Loudon put them back in front after 66 minutes to grab his second of the game.

Cove applied all the pressure from here onwards but just couldn’t find the breakthrough until the 3rd minute of added time when Declan Glass fired it into the box and it was headed home by David Eguaibor for his hattrick with the last move of the game to ensure the points were shared.

“Not a sending off”, says Petrie

Montrose boss Stewart Petrie didn’t feel like Keir Bertie’s red card was the right decision but emphasised he hadn’t watched it back, he felt that the referee wasn’t going to give the foul initially but then suddenly decided to show the red card.

Petrie was pleased with how his side played despite being a man down, but admitted the goals his side lost were poor in the first half. He praised how his side peformed in the second half and the mindset they came out with.

Petrie also admitted it was a ‘sore one to take’ as he recalled how Cove scored late on when the two sides met last season so it wasn’t the first time this has happened to Montrose at Balmoral Stadium.

Montrose were “more street wise”, says Hartley

Cove boss Paul Hartley was ‘disappointed’ with how his side played and that the result was ‘through their own fault’. He emphasised that his side didn’t do the basic things well and that 10 man Montrose looked more lively than his side with 11 men.

Hartley was pleased with the hattrick from David Eguaibor, who is off the mark in League 1 now, but overall was disappointed especially when his side had the lead and man advantage going into half time.

Hartley admitted that his side haven’t had the ideal start but stated how tough and competitive League 1 is, so anything can happen between now and the end of the season.

Hattrick is “bitter sweet” for Aguaibor

David Aguaibor says his hattrick is ‘bitter sweet’ due to the result his side had today, he was pleased to rescue a point but admitted his side ‘probably deserved more’ out of that game.

Aguaibor joins Mitch Megginson, Rory McAllister and Rumarn Burrell as the 4th hattrick scorer that Cove Rangers have had since being promoted to the SPFL, which he described as a ‘proud moment’.

Aguaibor acknowledged the influence Hartley has on him, saying that the boss is always telling him to be ‘ruthless’ and that every single scenario is practiced on the training ground, and that he hopes this will be the base he needs to kick on and score a lot of goals for Cove this season.

Looking ahead

Cove travel to Balmoor to take on Peterhead next weekend. The Blue Toon just suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to Queen of the South at Palmerston thanks to goals from Kurtis Guthrie, Benjamin Luissint, Kai Kennedy and Taylor Charters so will be looking to quickly bounce back from that.

Montrose welcome Inverness Caledonian Thistle to Links Park next Saturday, Scott Kellacher’s men will be looking to quickly bounce back after a 2-1 defeat to Stenhousemuir at the Caledonian Stadium. The Caley Jags took the lead through a Paul Allan penalty, but a penalty from Matthew Aitken and a goal from Ross Taylor gave The Warriors all 3 points.