Elgin City manager Allan Hale brings good record against Peterhead to Balmoor Stadium for William Hill League 2 derby
Elgin City visit Balmoor Stadium tomorrow knowing they’ve had the upper hand over Peterhead in recent meetings.
And although City’s overall record at the Buchan venue doesn’t make for good reading, manager Allan Hale expects his men to test Blue Toon to their limits - see video interview above.
Hale said after his team went down to their third consecutive defeat last weekend against Edinburgh City that there is no need for “overreaction” to his team’s sticky patch.
“We’ve got to maintain belief in the group but we know the supporters have to do the same,” he said.
Elgin are undefeated in their last five league 2 matches against their derby rivals.
They did lose 4-2 at Balmoor in the Premier Sports Cup group stages this season, but bounced back to record a 1-0 league win there in Octover with centre back Jake Dolzanski heading the winner.
Goals by Lewis Hyde and Dylan Gavin helped Elgin to a 2-0 victory at Borough Briggs in the last meeting between the teams on December 28, in front of a crowd of 1356.
Hale was also in charge for three league clashes between the north pair last season, with Elgin winning 2-1 at home before the next two ended in 1-1 stalemates.
The last time Peterhead defeated City in the league was a 6-0 thrashing at Balmoor in September 2023 during Barry Smith’s brief, eight-game managerial reign.
Hale may be undefeated in five league derby clashes but he said: “Every team knows when they play Elgin, they get a tough game and know we are a hard team to beat.”
Despite their recent purple patch against their former Highland League colleagues, City’s overall SPFL record at Balmoor is a dismal one.
Their 1-0 success there last October was Elgin’s first at Peterhead in the league in more than a decade, although the Buchan outfit spent much of that time in League 1.
History shows that the Black and Whites have won just three times in 23 SPFL visits to Peterhead, losing 14 of those.
City will again be without captain Brian Cameron, who has been ruled out until the end of March with a hamstring injury.
Centre back Jack Murray still hasn’t recovered from a knee injury sustained at Edinburgh City in December and could also be weeks away from a comeback, while striker Dylan Gavin isn’t expected back until April at the earliest.
