Cove & Falkirk battled it out for a place in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup on a dry, but chilly day. A big crowd came out in force for this one with both teams doing very well to get to this stage.
Cove Rangers' & Falkirk's senior teams clashed in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup last Saturday & Cove Under 13s were ball boys for the day. The game last week was a cracker and this Scottish Cup tie had all the makings to be a cracker as well.
The hosts started the game very well and used home advantage to good account. There was nothing clear cut in terms of chances for either side and it was going to be one of those games where both teams battled it out.
Mark Robb's side opened the scoring after nine minutes. A cross came in from the left hand side which was met by Anton Chauvin who crashed home the opener past Nathan Kuhn to give Cove the best possible start.
Both teams tried to keep playing football afterwards on what was a heavy surface to play on after the recent weather. The game was on a tepid note in the remaining exchanges of the 1st half, however the hosts went 2-0 with Charlie Rothnie through on goal before keeping a cool head to finish past Kuhn with a composed finish.
Kristopher Orr then had a free kick for Falkirk just before the interval which was delivered straight into the box, however Lloyd Sharp dealt with the situation by catching the ball. Cove deserved to be in front as the first half came to a close.
Cove Youth FC into semi finals with home win over Falkirk FCF
Cove Youth FC 3
Falkirk Community Foundation 0
- Sunday, 18 February 2018
- Heathryfold Park
- Under 13´s
- Scottish Youth FA Cup
- Half Time:
- Cove Youth FC
- 2-0
- Falkirk Community Foundation
The 2nd half started slowly for both teams, but it was Falkirk who started to get into the game more and showed some great stages of play. Jordan Johnstone had a great game for the visitors and he knocked a fine effort just wide in the 46th minute.
Shortly afterwards, the same player had an angled effort on goal which Sharp dealt with well. Falkirk were certainly not giving up on their Scottish Cup dream without a fight.
Falkirk were then awarded a penalty, and it was Johnstone who stepped up to try to reduce the deficit for his side however a superb diving save from Lloyd Sharp denied the visitors and gave Cove the confidence to kick on afterwards.
Cove came back and started creating chances again with the game approaching full time. Ross Burns had a great chance, however his pinpoint effort went straight at the goalkeeper.
The hosts put the game to bed after a great ball from Josh Robb found the Cove captain Liam Duthie whose header found Burns who guided home a fine finish in a packed penalty area.
Overall, Cove deserved the victory however full credit must be given to Falkirk for making it an exciting game of football. Both teams have done very well in the Scottish Cup this season so it's no surprise that this was a cracking game of football.
- Full Time:
- Cove Youth FC
- 3-0
- Falkirk Community Foundation
Lineups
- Match report and photos copyright Youth Football Scotland.