The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
League 1 now the priority after cup euphoria
Sutherland targets top of the table
Highland League leaders Cove Rangers will tonight face the one team to have beaten them this season.
North Lodge Park at Pitmedden will be the venue for Cove’s home match against Fraserburgh as John Sheran’s side goes in search of league win number 17.
The perfect record of 16 wins from their opening games has given Cove a two-point lead with two games in hand on nearest rivals Formartine United, but the visit of the Broch ensures the table-toppers will not get carried away.
Manager Sheran said: “The players are full of confidence, but Fraserburgh are traditionally very difficult opponents and they did beat us in the Aberdeenshire Cup at Bellslea earlier in the season.
“Apart from their last two results their record this season has been first class and no doubt they will be hurting after losing 1- 0 twice at home within the space of three days to Inverurie and Deveronvale.
“But no doubt they are also finding things difficult with the number of games being crammed into a short space of time just now. Like ourselves, I don’t think the Broch have the biggest of squads so they will also find that quite tough, especially having to play twice a week continually.
“It is a game everybody is looking forward to although we are having to play three games within six days so we may be tempted to chop and change a little as we have been doing in recent weeks.”
Broch assistant manager James Duthie expects a reaction from his side tonight. He said: “We are going into the Cove game on the back of a couple of 1-0 home defeats, although we have still won 14 of our last 17 games. But in the last few matches we have been unable to match the high standards we have set.
“We just can’t put our finger on what’s gone wrong, but what we do know is we will need to be an awful lot better against a Cove team who have been phenomenal right from the start of the season.” Strathspey Thistle can open up a five-point gap on 16th-placed Huntly when they meet at Seafield Park tonight.
Having moved above the Black and Golds after Saturday’s win against Fort William Jags manager Brian Grant is eager to pull away from Huntly.
Grant said: “We can’t let Huntly beat us because they would leapfrog us and go a point ahead so it really is a massive game for both sides with all to play for.”
Despite their 4-2 loss at home to Turriff United on Saturday Huntly are improving under assistant manager Mark Gray, who is in charge during manager Gregg Carrol’s leave of absence for personal reasons.
Forres Mechanics captain Graeme Grant, meanwhile, will celebrate his testimonial tonight against Aberdeen. The 35-year-old, who signed for Forres in 2003, has been a stalwart at Mosset Park in defence.
He has recovered from a serious knee injury, which kept him out for most of last season. Grant will be joined by several former team-mates including former Forres players Ryan Green, Neil Whyte, John Mutch, Nathan Sharp, Kyle Scott, Steven Rattray and Davie Calder. The mood at Peterhead is buoyant after the club booked its ticket for the Petr of ac Training Cup final, but attacker Shane Sutherland has warned his teammates the celebrations must go on hold as they return to league action at home to Stranraer tonight (8.0).
The Blue Toon beat Queen’s Park 2-1 at Hampden on Saturday to set-up a final date against either St Mirren or Rangers on Sunday, April 10, 2016.
Memories of the euphoric scenes which greeted the full-time whistle at the national stadium on Saturday still linger, but with his club seventh in League 1 and five points off a play-off berth Sutherland knows the league has to be the priority in the coming months.
He said: “It’s been a good weekend. I had a quiet one but I’m sure one or two of the players enjoyed themselves and rightfully so as it is a fantastic achievement to be part of the squad which has taken the club to its first senior cup final.
“It also gives us a great day out to look forward to, but the final is in April so wehave to put it to the back of our minds quickly and focus on the league for the next five months.
“We’re not happy with our league position and we
THE TABLE
want to be up there challenging for promotion.
“We believe we’ve got a squad of players here whichis capable of competing at the top of the table and our sole focus now is on proving it.”
The Balmoor club led the division briefly after a fantastic start to the season in August but have toiled since, managing just one win in their last 10 league matches.
Despite the frustrating run of results which has left his side 16 points behind leaders AyrUnited, Sutherland remains confident
“We have to put it to the back of our minds quickly and focus on league”
Peterhead can challenge for promotion this season.
He said: “It’s been a frustrating season in the league so far as the away games against Albion Rovers and Airdrie are the only ones where I’d say we were poor.
“We lost at home to Brechin but we were always in the game and in general we’ve been happy with our performances.
“But it’s not performances which put points on the board, it’s results.
“We’ve got faith in our ability in the dressingroom and believe we can push back up the table into contention.
“With the likes of Rory McAllister in the side we know we can score goals and if we can tighten up a little at the back we can start racking up the wins.”