Preview Cove Rangers
Saturday, 25th Jun 2022Pre Season Friendly (away) v Cove Rangers Saturday 25th June 2022, kick off 1.00pm at the Balmoral Stadium
The first pre season friendly will be away to Jim McIntyre’s Cove Rangers. The match will be a well deserved testimonial for Cove’s club legend Stuart McKenzie and will be the Pars first ever match at the Balmoral Stadium.
Stuart McKenzie initially joined Cove Rangers in 2007, and after a brief stint with Montrose, returned to the club in 2015. He has been first choice keeper ever since.
The thirty four year old claimed medals from the pyramid play-off and SPFL League One and Two successes. He played a major part in the club’s promotion to the Championship, keeping nineteen clean-sheets along the way, and his efforts were acknowledged when he was one of five Cove Rangers players named in the cinch League One team of the year.
The clubs have only met once before and that was in a Scottish Cup tie in January 1995 when Dunfermline won 4-0 at the then Highland League club’s Allan Park.
Balmoral Stadium
Cove Rangers started planning to move from their Allan Park ground in the mid-2000s, as this formed part of their unsuccessful pitch for Scottish Football League membership in 2008. Initially, the move was tied in with Aberdeen’s new stadium plans and the proposal was to use Calder Park as a training facility. When those plans did not come to fruition Cove Rangers then decided to press ahead with a new stadium by themselves.
Aberdeen City Council accepted the first stages of planning permission for Calder Park in November 2014. The new stadium was originally planned to be ready for the start of the 2016–17 season. The club submitted a planning application in March 2016. The plans included a stand with 312 seats, an "all-weather" 3G pitch and 110 car parking spaces.
A sponsorship deal with the Aberdeen-based Balmoral Group in December 2016 included the naming rights for the Calder Park ground, to be known as the Balmoral Stadium. Construction work was being undertaken in October 2017 and the Balmoral Stadium was officially opened in July 2018, with a friendly match between Cove Rangers and Aberdeen.
Dunfermline reserves played Aberdeen reserves at the Balmoral Stadium on 17th December 2018 with Paul Allan and Matty Todd playing in that first ever Pars visit to the stadium.
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Queen of the South in the SPFL Trust Trophy and Stirling Albion on the opening day were the only sides to leave the Balmoral Stadium as winners last season. Cove won 13 of their 18 home league matches.
Last Six Matches
DUNFERMLINE
Queen’s Park (H) L 0-1
Queen’s Park (A) D 0-0
Queen of the South (H) L 1-2
Partick Thistle (A) L 0-1
Ayr United (H) W 2-1
Kilmarnock (A) L 0-2
COVE RANGERS
East Fife (A) W 3-2
Dumbarton (H) W 1-0
Alloa Athletic (H) W 3-0
Falkirk (A) W 2-0
Queens Park (A) D 1-1
Airdrieonians (A) D 1-1
League Record
DUNFERMLINE
Championship League Position: 9th
Championship League Points: 35
Goal Difference: -17
Away League Record: P18 W2 D6 L10 GF14 GA29
Last Six Match Form: LWLLDL
COVE RANGERS
League One Position: 1st
League One Points: 79
Goal Difference: +41
Home League Record: P18 W13 D5 L0 GF43 GA15
Last Six Match Form: DDWWWW
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Queens Park): Jakub Stolarczyk: Matthew Todd, Efe Ambrose, Coll Donaldson, Lewis Martin: Steven Lawless (Bobby Kamwa 90+2), Liam Polworth, Joe Chalmers (Dan Pybus 63), Ryan Dow (Aaron Comrie 63): Graham Dorrans (c) (Lewis McCann 90+2): Kevin O’Hara.
SUBS NOT USED: Nikolay Todorov, Rhys Breen, Dom Thomas, Reece Cole, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
COVE RANGERS (v East Fife): Stuart McKenzie, Morgyn Neill, Harry Milne, Connor Scully, Scott Ross, Blair Yule, Mitch Megginson, Robbie Leitch (Kai Fotheringham 64), Jamie Masson, Mark Reynolds, Leighton McIntosh (Ola Adeyemo 77).
SUBS NOT USED: Kyle Gourlay (GK).
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