Ruth and i arrived on the Friday and popped to the Berwick Animal Rescue Kennels to drop off some of the many toys Pippa had that could be put to better use. We than done the usual pottering about. I had a trust meeting in the Pilot on the Saturday morning at 11am too. Saturday, Trust meeting and Football.The trust meeting went well, a few matters discussed and I was glad to hear that the club will again be running a Christmas dinner in the lounge for some of the elderly patrons of the town. We are looking to push the membership numbers up a little and it was suggested that it might make a good Christmas gift. After the meeting it was pottering about and then the game at 3pm. The game.well not much to say really. A 1-0 win with a penalty in the 80th minute. It was a very windy day but the football wasn't great. It looked like one goal would separate the teams and it's pretty obvious that Berwick are really needing a striker. Cowdenbeath were playing quite a physical game and it wasn't a surprise that they gave away a penalty, it was a surprise that they didn't have anybody sent off though. It was 3 points that Berwick really needed to open up a bit more of a gap from the bottom teams.
well it was a 1-0 defeat at home and not the greatest of displays from Berwick. It's still early days in the league and we are not at the bottom so that's something! Hopefully we will get 3 points from Cowdenbeath next week to increase the distance from the bottom of the table. The weekend started on Friday for Gordon and I, we popped into Ayton for a coffee morning then on to Berwick. Gordon wanted to visit the garden centre to pick up some Jarvis Pickle pies and then we were on the boat trip from the Quayside followed by lunch and a drink in the Curfew. The evening was spent taking in some of the literary festival. We had tickets to Tony Husband and Ian McMillan : A Cartoon History of Here, a good 90 minutes spent having fun. Saturday.....We wandered around the town looking at all the small nooks and crannies that we pass but don't take in, a bit of elevenses at the granery followed by fish and chips for lunch, the plan was to then pop into the Red lion for a pint as we have never been in but the fish and chips and pot of tea stuffed us sow we needed to walk it off...... it was a walk along the riverbank and off to the black and gold for a drink before the game. Ladbrokes filming!We saw Tom Maxwell in the black and gold and popped over to say hello, I've never met him but he was at school with my wife Ruth. We were there with Ian Beresford and then the guys from the Ladbrokes tv show came in. They then interviewed myself, Gordon, Tom and Ian. I hope we done alright. The Ladbrokes guys were nice fellas and they sat with us for the first half of the game and got our thoughts at halftime. We saw them again as we left and said goodbye as we headed to the Angel inn for a pint.
Well midweek for me started with the boiler at home springing a leak but that won't stop me from enjoying the weekend. Off to Berwick on a Friday with Gordon to see what we can see. We are aiming to get to Ayton for 11am to visit the Hemelvaart pub https://www.hemelvaart.co.uk/find-us. It's a beer cafe and I've wanted to have a look for a while, on Friday there is a Northen Edge Coffee take over. Northern Edge are a small coffe roaster in Berwick. "Wear it pink / Wear it blue (breast cancer / prostate cancer) charity coffee morning with Northern Edge Coffee this Friday from 10am! Come along and 'meet the roaster' and enjoy a delicious coffee and homemade cake in exchange for a donation." We will then head to Berwick garden centre to pick up some Jarvis Pickle pies for lunch and then onto a boat trip up the tweed, The Evening entertainment will be Ian MacMillan and Tony Husband in the Guildhall. We will no doubt have a few beers inbetween..... when Saturday comes....Saturday is game day, I've already got my £1 bet on Berwick to win. There's lots going on for this game. Ladbrokes film crew at the game on Saturday. Ladbrokes are sending down a film crew to interview fans and officials at Saturday's game against Montrose for a piece intended to be shown on their Football Show on Facebook Live and also shared out on social media They will be in the Black & Gold and then inside the turnstiles so we might have a bit of a chat with them. Tom Maxwell is a guest at Saturday's match with Montrose and will be selling & signing copies of his book in the Club Shop. Gordon bought me a copy of the book for my Christmas and it turns out Tom went toschool with my wife Ruth.
i arrived in Berwick around 11am with my dad. We had hospitality for this game it was offered at £10 each so it was an offer too good to refuse! Tickets alone for this game were £12 and £7 so it only cost and extra £1! We pottered around until 1pm when Hospitality started. We arrive and were the first there. I was hoping to watch the Liverpool v Man Utd game on the tv's in the lounge but it turns out that the club don't have sky sports! Some cooking show was put on instead..... for future reference it would be better if they put on one of the free sport channels. It might not be football but it's sport! I had a can of Coke and my dad had a beer. We picked up a couple of programmes and had a read. Nice to see an advert for St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters in it. The place slowly filled up and we had a chat with a few people. About 30 minutes before kick off we headed out for a seat in the stand. We prefer a seat in the stand over the directors box, it's nice to be among the crowd and although it was raining it wasn't cold. Halftime 0-0.halftime arrived and it was a decent shift from Berwick, the game looked like it could swing either way and my dad said a goal either way would win it. We quickly scoffed down our sandwiches tea and cake and headed back outside to take our seats for the second half. I even managed to get a picture with Eric Tait the club legend! Although looking at the picture i probably should have had a shave...... Full time 1-0!well we won 1-0 thanks to a goal from defender Pat Scullion in the 70th minute. I also had £10 on this game. Berwick were 3-1 so £35 back for that! £5 stake was my actual money and William Hill matched my stake to put it to £10 with a Scottish cup promotion. I think they must hate me because I hardly ever bet and don't get drawn in to spending all my cash! At the final whistle it was into the car and back home to Fife. We were listening to the radio waiting for the next round draw. It turns out that there was some confusion when the 6 or was it 9 ball came out so they decided to scrap the draw and start again! Finally Berwick were drawn away against Arbroath. Arbroath is about a 50 minute drive from Fife so that's not too bad! I'll take my Dad and Gordon will probably come too.
Well it's the Scottish cup this weekend. I'm off down with my dad for this one. Berwick V Annan. I was hoping for somebody other than Annan in the draw, Given that we play the 4 times in the league. I have £10 on a Berwick win for this one. My Dad and I are also taking up the hospitality offer for this game, at £10 for season ticket holders why wouldn't you. Hospitality includes the ticket to the game, programme/team sheet, half time buffet with tea/coffee and seating in the Directors Box.
It's the first of 3 home games in a row. Next week I'll be down with Gordon for the Montrose game, this is assuming the cup game isn't a draw and the Montrose game is shifted for a replay. We will be arriving on the Friday, dropping in at Ayton for a Cancer research coffee morning on the way. The next game at home is against Cowdenbeath. I have a trust meeting before this game. well I didn't make this trip and Berwick won 2-0! it was a bit too far for me to travel and I had promise my mum I would go down and cut the hedge at the side of their house to stop my dad from trying to do it an injuring himself (he is 80 now). I did however put a £5 bet on them to win at odds of 6/1 so that was pretty fortunate. It seemed like it was a pretty decent display and hopefully a good morale boosting day. I'm hoping that the lads will now go on to beat Annan in the next round of the cup on the 14th. I'll be down for that with my dad. We will be partaking in hospitality for that game, the first time for my dad in hospitality so I hope he'll enjoy it. After my winning bet I've also decided to put £1 on them to win when they play in the league. I'm keeping a spreadsheet and at the end of the season I'll see if I'm up or down. I'm not doing it to make money, just a bit of fun and an experiment. Currently from the start of the season I would be £11 (and change that I can't remember) up. Any money that is gained I'll donate to a Berwick charity.
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AuthorDavid Letham Archives
January 2022
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