Yule’s reason to believe

Tough matches in Betfred Cup have helped champions begin their league defence in fine style

“We have made a good start to the league with three wins out of three”

Cove Rangers midfielder Blair Yule is delighted his team has emerged from a difficult start to the season with maximum points and wants to keep the perfect league start going against Huntly this evening.

Last season’s champions opened their 2016-17 campaign with a 3-2 victory against Inverurie Locos before a 2-1 win against title rivals Brora Rangers.

A 2-0 success at Deveronvale on Saturday kept momentum going and Yule’s men can go joint top of the table with Buckie Thistle with a victory against Huntly at Harlaw Park tonight.

Yule said: “We have made a good start to the league with three wins out of three and we will hope to get another one against Huntly.

“Playing in the Betfred Cup was good for us as it gave us competitive matches against SPFL opposition early in the season.

“We had prepared well during pre-season so I always expected us to be ready when the Highland League got under way. It is really important to make a good start. We saw that last year when we went on an 18-game unbeaten run and ended up managing to win the league.

“Getting the points on the board early really helps. We have done well so far but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“The Deveronvale game at the weekend was probably our best performance of the season so far. If we keep improving then we should do well, but Huntly have made some really good signings so we are ready for a tough match.”

Huntly have taken four points from their first three matches following Saturday’s stalemate against unbeaten Lossiemouth.

The Black and Golds have a difficult run of fixtures coming up with tonight’s match against Cove followed by games against Wick, Inverurie Locos and Brora Rangers. Co-manager Doug Baxter said: “It is a tough run of fixtures, but hopefully we can take something from the next four games.

“We are happy with how we have started and hopefully we can kick on through September and October.

“We have had such a big turnaround of players so it was always going to be difficult in the early part of the season.

“But we have taken in quality players so we are certainly hoping to be higher up the league than we were last year when we finished 15th.

“A run in one of the cups would also be great.”

Huntly are likely to give a debut to forward Robbie Duncanson, who joined from Nairn County last month.

Baxter added: “He was unable to play two matches because of a ban and another two because of unavailability so we are looking forward to finally getting Robbie in action.

“He is a very good player and I’m sure he will figure at some point during the match.”

High hopes: For Cove midfielder Blair Yule