Connor Scully has revealed an ongoing bet with his brother is fuelling his goal glut for Cove Rangers this season.
The club stalwart has found the net seven times this season in the Championship, having only scored three in the previous years since Cove joined the SPFL.
His strikes have veered from the opportunistic to the spectacular and his burst of form could be laid down to a challenge set to him by his brother Aaron.
A youth football coach in Ghana, who formerly worked for Aberdeen, Aaron Scully did not believe his sibling could hit the 10-goal mark. But with five months left of the campaign, he is already well on the way to achieving it.
7 goals & 2 assists in 7 games ⚽️🅰️@cscully13 🔥 pic.twitter.com/2hVAEl06zX
— Aaron Scully (@AaronScully19) November 5, 2022
“The target was five goals, but I’ve got a little bet on with my brother that I don’t get to 10,” said Scully. “I think he’s shaking in his boots a little bit.
“We have not discussed a forfeit yet for whoever loses, but maybe should.
“Ten would be a good number from midfield and I want to score as many as possible. I was never really like that (a goalscorer), but it’s a good habit to get into.
“The way we play now, the manager wants us to get the ball in the box. I’ve been watching the World Cup and I’ve thought a few times that teams were mucking about with the ball outside the box, where they’re not going to score from.
“Playing in the role I am on the left, I have to try get in at the back post and I’ve been doing it – it’s worked out so far.”
Scully on unusual pre-match meal before first Cove goal he scored
Scully recalled the tale of his first goal for Cove as a teenager, which came after a pre-match meal most footballers would frown upon.
“I came on against Forres after having a Domino’s pizza in the morning, which (manager) Kevin Tindal wasn’t happy about when I told him a few years later,” said Scully.
“I’d just been called back from Banchory St Ternan and thought I was never going to get a chance. I got into the changing room and found out I was playing upfront.
“I’d had a Domino’s the night before and another four slices in the morning – that was the year Forres won the league – and I scored on my debut.
“I wouldn’t have recommended having pizza beforehand, but it turned out to be a good day.”
There is also a friendly rivalry going on within the Cove squad, with Scully keeping their regular goal-getter Mitch Megginson off the top of the scoring charts.
“We do speak about it and he hates it!” said Scully. “We have a bit of banter about it. He’s got a run for his money this year as he’s normally well away by now.
“It’s good for both of us to have that rivalry and it could be good for the team in the long run, if we’re both scoring.”
Goal battle with Megginson and friendly rivalry with ex-Cove ace Milne
He will have more friendly competition tomorrow, with former Cove full-back Harry Milne returning to the Balmoral Stadium with Partick Thistle.
Milne was a key part of Cove’s surge through the leagues, before embarking on a full-time career with the Jags this summer.
“I’ll probably try to wind him up during the game,” added Scully. “He’s a good player and we all knew he was going to be when he went down there.
“The last few seasons under Paul Hartley did him the world of good.
“He was at a good age where he didn’t have a full-time job or a mortgage to think about, so it was a no-brainer for him to try full-time football.
“I was marking him at corners down at Partick and I thought there was no way I was letting him score against me.
“He text me after I scored twice against Queen’s Park – he scored a double against Dundee the next day, but they (Dundee) came back and won the game. I maybe shouldn’t have texted him so soon after!”
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