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Well a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. A complete change at the top, Chairman and directors gone and replaced. http://berwickrangers.com/a-message-from-the-new-board-of-directors-of-berwick-rangers-fc-plc/ There are plenty of opinions flying about but I’ll leave that for others to dissect. It if anybody wanted to write a book on Berwick Rangers the last couple of seasons would have everything in it! I’m match ball sponsor for this game against East Kilbride and it looks like a full house for hospitality too. Let’s hope we can get a result. I’ll be down with my dad as per usual, it’s been a while since he was at a game with me, a serious case of Flu saw him out of commission for a number of weeks. The last game he attended was Berwick v Gretna on the 7th of December. I did take him to an East Fife game on the 11th of January. He has a season ticket for East Fife. It’s £20 for over 80’s and at £13 for a concession it’s paid for itself after a couple of games. There a few game we can go to when Berwick have a few empty Saturdays. We were at the East Kilbride v Berwick fixture in September where we were beaten 3 -2. Many ups and downs since then and a few Squad changes to add to the mix.   Arrival.It seems like forever since we were last down in Berwick. I was down over the festive break but even that seems like a long time. (4th of Jan the last game looking at the calendar). The fixtures are a bit “all over the place” they alway have been a bit but the Lowland league season is especially difficult. I guess it’s because we are out of the various cups but we have 3 empty Saturdays between now and the end of the season. There are 2 postponed games that will hopefully fill those up but I don’t think it was planned as a buffer. We have a home game on the 22nd of February and the next one is the 11th of April with 2 away games scheduled in between. Edit here. I think there is a Lowland league cup at some point that we still have to play in. I’m not quite on top of the fixtures as you may have been able to guess. I’m too busy and tired at the moment. Life is getting in the way. Still down to Berwick and off to Foulis to fill our bellies before heading to Shielfield.    The Game.Beaten 2-0 in the usual manner, taking the eye off the ball and some wayward passing. The frustration of almost as per usual. Almost a good pass, almost a decent shot. I’m really hoping that the team gets it together but the season is moving on. There are some decent players but somethings just not quite right. Here’s hoping for a better run for the remainder of the season, for the fans and for the players. The games are looking tougher. No chance of winning the league that’s for sure but a few wins wouldn’t be a bad thing. It wasn’t a bad performance and the ref was quite poor today. A couple of bad tackles and some blatant holding going unpunished. The new striker missed a sitter in the first half, I’m sure he’ll be thinking about that tonight.    I’ve been down in Berwick all week, so not far to travel today. It’s been a busy week catching up with family and friends. The highlight of the week was a phone call from Ruth’s dad. One of his kitchen cabinets had come off the wall! The kitchen was only fitted a few months ago! We went round to find a large double wall unit still attached at one corner and resting on a biscuit barrel keeping the whole thing up. It had also mashed the cooker hood too. 3hrs later I had managed to fix it all. The wall cabinet was originally put up with screws and rawl plugs that would barely take the weight of the cabinet empty, never mind full. The kitchen was fitted by a “professional”. That was New Year’s Eve’s excitement for us, a few broken glasses but no major damage. So game day and I was on camera duty. I got up to Shielfield around 1:45pm, had a chat with a few folk (including Eric Tait) and set up the camera. I though about going back to the car for my gloves but decided not to. That was a mistake, it was cold on the hands as the temperature dipped. I couldn’t even put my hands in my pockets, the camera work prohibits that. I grabbed a cup of tea, chatted to a few more folk and then it was time for the game.    The game.Berwick were playing a pressing game that saw them caught offside 3 times in the first half. Berwick were shaky at the back and Gala had most of the half and used this to their advantage as they scored the first and only goal of the half. Berwick unable to clear their lines saw the ball land at the feet of Gala player Galbraith who slotted it home to give Gala the lead. Darren Smith suffered a head injury that saw play stopped for some time and he was replaced with Euan Smith. Berwick were unable to take the few chances they had and the half ended 1-0 with Gala looking the team on top. The second half started much in same way, Berwick struggling to read the game but they managed to adjust and create a few more chances. Waugh close with a free kick and Chalmers dragging a shot wide. Striker Yaw Osei-Opoku found himself on the edge of the box and slipped past the Gala defenders with a brilliant run and shot to level the game at 1-1 to the delight of the Berwick fans. Berwick were pressing again looking for the win when Gala had a shot to the top left corner that looked certain to put Gala in the lead saved by the Berwick keeper Brennan. The resulting corner however saw the Berwick defence unable to clear their lines again and the ball was pushed out to Galbraith who put it into the back of the net to give a Gala the lead again. 2-1. To the credit of Berwick they kept on the attack, something that has been missing in previous weeks and during one pressing move late in the game Gala were reduced to 10 as their player picked up a second yellow. Berwick were still on the attack and Euan Smith in the 89th minute burst through the middle and took a shot that levelled the game 2-2. With just a few added minutes to go both teams pressed for the win but the final whistle saw Berwick ending the game 2-2, the same scoreline as the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Berwick next game will be away to Vale of Leithen at Victoria park on Saturday the 11th of January. Kick off 2pm.    |
