Cove Rangers v Montrose: identical records, different routes
Cove Rangers host Montrose at Balmoral Stadium with two clean-sheet wins behind them, against the only side to beat them in this fixture so far.
By Barrie Moran,
Here is a curiosity to start with. Cove Rangers and Montrose have both played East Fife, Hamilton Academical and Peterhead recently, and against those three clubs their records are identical: won one, drawn one, lost one, five scored, three conceded. On paper you could not slide a cigarette paper between them. Look at how each got there, though, and the two sides went about it in nearly opposite ways.
The shared opponents
Cove thumped Hamilton 4-0 at Balmoral Stadium, drew 1-1 at home to East Fife and lost 2-0 at Peterhead. Montrose did the reverse with Peterhead, beating them 3-0 at home, took a 1-1 draw away to Hamilton and lost 2-1 at home to East Fife. The East Fife results are the most telling of the three. Same opponent, both at home, and Cove came away with a point where Montrose came away with nothing. That gap is small, but it is the one place where the two records really separate.
Cove Rangers' recent form
Cove's last five read W W L D L, with nine scored and seven conceded, and the order matters. The defeats came first: a 4-3 loss at Queen of the South, then the home draw with East Fife and the defeat at Peterhead. Since then it has been a 1-0 win at Airdrieonians and the 4-0 over Hamilton. Both of their clean sheets in that run are the two most recent matches. Two games is not a trend you would bet the house on, but it is the right direction, and it follows a spell in which they conceded in three straight matches.
Montrose's recent form
Montrose's sequence is L D W D L, with six scored and nine conceded and one clean sheet. That goals-against column takes a heavy hit from a 5-0 home defeat to Ross County, and it would be unfair to judge them on that afternoon alone. Away from home in this run they have been steady rather than spectacular, drawing 1-1 at East Kilbride and 1-1 at Hamilton. The 3-0 win over Peterhead shows what they can do on a good day. The defeat to East Fife last week is the most recent evidence, and it was a home game they lost.
The previous meeting
The only recent meeting went Montrose's way, 2-1 at their place on 12 September. That is one match, on a different ground, two months ago. It tells you Montrose can beat this Cove side, which is worth knowing, and not much more than that.
Verdict
The evidence is thin, and the shared-opponent records are a reminder of how level these two can look. But I lean towards Cove Rangers. They are at home, they have won their last two without conceding, and in the one direct comparison that lines up neatly, home to East Fife, they did better than Montrose did. Montrose's away draws suggest they will not be easy to put away, so I would not be surprised by a tight game.
What would change my mind is the Cove defence. Those two clean sheets came after a run of conceding in every match, including four at Queen of the South. If that earlier version turns up on Saturday, the September result becomes a much better guide than it looks today.