First time at Cove for me, and what starts off badly ends up an excellent day/night out.
My train from Queen Street to Aberdeen is cancelled, so I need to spend an hour or so hanging around till the next one. This eats in to pre-match drinks time, as I meet my mate Martin at Aitchie’s just next to Aberdeen station.
A quick pint there then the bus along to a pub/restaurant effort close to the ground. It’s not bad, but a fifteen-minute walk from the nearest pub isn’t my idea of football civilization.
That said, it’s a friendly welcome at Balmoral Stadium, where everyone seems pretty cheerful. Both sides have made changes to their team for this wee break from the league. Raith Rovers are the holders, but they don’t seem to have brought a particularly big support up for the occasion. I suppose the Challenge Cup isn’t capturing the imagination like it once did.
We perch ourselves next to the home dugout and enjoy the action. The holders look the better side, and it’s not long until Connor McBride puts Rovers ahead. Cove don’t look to have a lot of ideas about them, some unattacked balls across goal are as exciting as it gets for them while Ross nearly doubles Raith’s lead when he hits the post.
Cove improve in the second half. They have a goal ruled out for offside, they have one cleared off the line, and then Vigurs shoots over when he really should have equalised. But Rovers see it out and the holders are through to the next round.
I’ve got the final of this competition pencilled-in in my diary for March, and I’ll maybe see Raith again. Cove probably aren’t heart-broken to be out. They need to put league points on the board.
After the game it’s back into town. I really like Aberdeen, and we have a good night in Ma’ Cameron’s watching Scotland beat Ireland in the Nations League. Then it’s up early for the train home on Sunday, with the promise of another Aberdeen trip to come for the Hearts game in a few weeks. Looking forward to it.