we travelled down on Friday afternoon for this game. It would be a fairly early start on the Saturday for me with the trust meeting, manager talk in and then the game and I wasn’t sure that travelling down early on the Saturday would be the best given that my hamstring/back combo is still not sorted.

The trust meeting went well, various discussions on how to support the club among the various things talked about and then the managers talk in. I enjoyed the talk in, it’s a good way for fans to ask questions and get a honest frank reply from the manager. All are welcome to the talk in and a fair few had turned up. A good selection of questions were asked and good answers returned. So may not like the answers but it lets fans know what’s going on and that a lot of hard work is involved in managing a football team on a part time basis. Talk in finished I was off to get the camera to record the game and get some lunch from the van in the ground,

well we were under the cosh with Clyde having most of the possession and a few good shots, one off the post but we had 2 in the net in the first half!. Sadly however this came tumbling down in the second half when Clyde put in 3. The real sickened was the goal in the 92nd minute that the Keeper Brennan couldn’t keep out despite 2 great saves. The ball fell to the Clyde man who stuck it home. Clyde had 61% possession in the game to our 31% and 15 shots on target to our 5. This of course prompted some “debate” on social media about the team/manager as you could imagine it would. Losing from 2-0 up is hard but Clude are a quality side and showed it in the second half.

As sad as it is all we can do is hope for league survival. It’s no coincidence that the teams with the least amount of money are propping up the bottom of the table. Yes the teams inexperience showed again but that all we can muster with the money we have. Again it’s not an excuse it’s a reason but we should all have realistic expectations. Is frustrating. I have travelled hundreds of miles this season and had little reward but I also believe Berwick are lucky to have a team playing at such a high level given the size and location of the town and being one of the poorer regions in the uk with the lowest wages. it’s slim pickings to raise funds from such an poor economic region. Edinburgh City and Cowdenbeath have had recent investment and we are losing out to them. Hard to compete with a team in Edinburgh offering £500 a week. We need to be realistic and offer support. Yes it’s tough but what else can be done? Sack the board? But who do we replace them with? There is no millionaire out there wanting to invest in Berwick and a football club is a money pit at this level.

well it was a 0-1 loss away at Peterhead last week. Another bit of a defensive error by all accounts but not a battering. I didn’t go to that game, I’m still struggling with my back and hamstring and it’s a bit too far for my dad to drive. I’ll be down on Saturday for the Clyde game though thanks to my wife driving me down. It will be a long day for me on Saturday but we are planning on going down on Friday night and staying over. The Supporters Trust are having a meeting in the morning and I’ll need to attend, I’ve missed the last couple because of the state I’m in. It’s been moved to an earlier time because the meet the manager event is on at Shielfield at 11:30am. The trust meeting has been moved to Shielfield so it’s easier to attend the managers event after. I’m also cameraman for the game so I’ll have to stay after the game and recorded the managers interview. I’ll need to make sure I’ve packed all the things I need, Painkillers, hamstring support, back support, packed lunch......

Who knows how the Clyde game will pan out, I still have hope of a win but Clyde are in the top half of the table and will be looking to maintain their playoff position and not let it slip away. Our defence is wobbly but perhaps the latest addition will be enough to pull them together. We are short on goals though but hopefully if the defence is sorted we can start moving the ball better and getting into a few more shooting positions. We really need to take our chances though, we have been a bit guilty of overthinking it at times and not having a shot at goal when we are in a position to do so.
Still when Saturday comes and all that........

The day started out with my dad coming to collect me as I still can blinking drive. My ankles have swollen and my hamstring is playing up. We arrived in Berwick around 1:30pm having negotiated the lorries on the Edinburgh bypass and the breakdowns on the way. I was to be cameraman for the day so we popped in to the wee bar to say hello and then I went to get the camera. I dropped off a card for my dad’s 81st Birthday on Monday and asked for a few signatures and i was duly obliged. Camera equipment gathered my dad and I headed into the stand. My dad was no doubt pleased as this would give him early access to the chip van for his chips and curry sauce.....
I setup the camera and a chair to sit on while filming. It might be a slightly different camera angle than people are used to but there was no chance I could stand to film. My dad and I then went to the chip van. We had to wait! Luckily i had my walking stick to lean on. The reason we had to wait was because Ladbrokes tv were filming the chip van! Still we passed the time watching Ouzy modelling some retro kits. It wasn’t too long before we had our food and we went back to our seats and await the start of the game.

well let’s cut to the chase, we got stuffed in the first half. Defensive mistakes lead to the goals. The second half saw us have a few attempts but Elgin were coasting, no need for them to chase the game.

I really don’t know what’s going on, it seem like the basics have been forgotten, the inexperience showing it’s ugly head. We need a good defender with experience to pull the defence together. We could also do with a couple of wingers or wide players to fill the gaps that are created on the field. I’m fairly sure that Robbie Horn knows this but realistically with no funds to compete we are always going to be in the position we are in. Somebody commented that if Robbie was at one of the other teams in the league he would have been sacked by now because of his record. But he’s not at another team and if he was and with a bigger budget would his team have the same record? Doubtful. Berwick simply don’t have the funds to compete with the teams at the top end of the table. We need to face this and get behind Robbie and the team. We can be thankful this season for Albion Rovers. As sad a tale as it is for Albion Rovers it’s a blessing for Berwick. Hopefully the team can pull together and we can start gaining points.

Berwick Rangers are selling shares, this isn’t particularly new and have been on the club shop for a while. I’ve bought several sets of 25 shares for various people. They are great for birthday and christmas presents and I’ve even bought one as part of a friends wedding gift! The club need the money, there no doubt about it so why not buy some shares. My first share (yes singular) was issued when I joined the supporters trust (membership of the trust is another good gift idea) and i purchased another 25 around Christmas 2017. I now own a total of 1026 shares in Berwick Rangers to date. It’s my way of helping the club, they need the money and I get my enjoyment from the club. We have bad days that’s for sure but Berwick are a club in a unique position and the town are lucky to have a club at all.

St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters have donated £100 to the Berwick Rangers Colts to go towards their training kit.
David Letham of St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters said “ it’s a pleasure to help the colts with a donation of £100. We are luckily in a position to offer such support to the colts and wish them well for the coming season.”

the shirt the club donated was finally delivered to Northern Soul Kitchen with a couple of Northen Soul Kitchen bears thrown in. Millie was delighted to receive the shirt and Ruth and I were delighted to present it. We also had a delicious lunch when we were there too!

I have paid to sponsor the home kits of 2 reserve players. At £25 each its a good and affordable way to support the reserve team. If you read this and want to support the reserve team in this way you can do it here. http://store.berwickrangers.com/products/reserve-kit-sponsorship
It can also be a good gift to buy, one of the sponsorships is for a new born baby girl. What do you buy a baby girl? Well sponsorship of a reserve player of course. Let’s face it the family will no doubt be swamped with baby clothes and toys.....