Rainbow Taxis Park, Cove Rangers
Rainbow Taxis Park, or Allan Park to some people, is the home of my Highland League team, Cove Rangers. If you have read my about me page, you'll remember I first came here after my two years at Pittodrie had finished. You'll also remember my first game here. Cove Rangers 3-3 Forres Mechanics. When I first saw the ground, it wasn't in the best condition.It had broken advertising boards, rusty metal and it was a small pitch. But that was the worst of it. The pies here were excellent and that's a big bonus for all us football fans. The stand itself didn't allow fans to sit in it but there was some benches beside it where you could sit. There is also an enclosure to stand in, which is mostly where I go. But the most memorable result here was Cove Rangers 1-1 Aberdeen under 19s. Cove won 3-1 on penalties. This game was an Aberdeenshire cup game and the game was played at a high tempo with both teams playing to their abilities. But the thing with this game was, Cove created so many chances, just didn't take them.
The first half saw Cove creating the best of very few chances with Danny Milne and Martin Johnston putting their chances wide. Aberdeen's best chance was a Ricky Foster free kick which was heading towards top corner. But had little pace on it so Stuart McKenzie didn't needed to throw himself at it, just sidestepped and caught the ball. The 2nd half was more epic. In the last 5 minutes of the game Aberdeen took the lead against the run of play. Cries for offisde were shattered as Jordan Brown slotted past Stuart McKenzie. But in the dying minutes, The ball dropped out from above for Jamie Buchan to unleash an unstoppable 25 yard volley into Jamie Langfield's bottom corner, despite him getting a hand to it, it was too powerful. This sent the Cove fans wild, especially myself. I didn't have a grudge against Aberdeen, it was just Cove had deserved to get a goal because they had been by far the better team. The game had went to penalties and Stuart McKenzie had made 3 brilliant saves to help Cove win 3-1. Overall a very good game from a Coves perspective and had been one of many enjoyable games you see here.
Highland League football at it's best and now Cove went on to lift the trophy beating Keith and Buckie 1-0 and 3-0 respectively. So that's one trophy down and hopefully another league title to come. I have seen Cove win 2 league titles, an Aberdeenshire shield and an Aberdeenshire Cup over the 3 years of my attendance. It's been some of the greatest years of my life with many ups and downs. Hopefully more ups to come too.
