St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters are delighted to offer support to Shea Dowie the reserve team keeper. Shea has been included in two match day squads so far this season at the time of this article. That means seven Berwick Reserve players have now featured in a competitive first team squad during 2018/19. Hopefully things are looking up for the reserves and there’s a path into the first team.
St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters are fond of a keeper, we sponsor Sean Brenan’s kits this season and have sponsored his home kit for the last couple of seasons. Sean was also the winner of the St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supports outstanding performance award a couple of years ago in season 16/17 for his standout performance in an away game to Forfar.
So as we are so fond of keepers we are going to offer further support. We approached Sean to ask about his gloves, the hidden expense of a keeper, that additional thing that you have to buy that an outfield player doesn’t and can cost a fair bit. Sean has a deal with s1goalkeeping.co.uk who provide his glove at a discount rate as part of a sponsorship deal and Sean suggested that we support Shea, the reserve team keeper. As a board member of the supporters trust who financially support the reserve team this was a good fit and a nice gesture from Sean to think about Shea in this way. Of course we are going to have to have an interview/chat with both Sean and Shea for the website. Gordon, a member of St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters has suggested an interview in the style of Shoot! Magazine….
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We are hoping to catch up with the keepers in the next few weeks and badger them with the following Shoot! Style questions.

Fun/personal:
What do you do when you are not playing football?
What's your favourite song?
What is your favourite car? (or What type of car would you like to own?)
What is your favourite meal?
What is your favourite holiday?
Right-handed or left-handed?(Right footed or left-footed?)
boot size and glove size?
Are there any other footballers in your family?


Goalkeeping:
Who told you that you should be a goalkeeper?
Who is your footballing hero?
What is the best moment in your career so far?
What’s the worst?
What is your match day routine for a home game?
What’s in your kit bag for a match?
Do you have any pre match superstitions? Lucky socks for example.
How do you wind down after a game?

And finally
When do the Christmas decorations go up in your house?

Well the day started early as it seems to these days. Still it’s nice to take the dog for a walk on the beach and pop into BearClaw brewery in Spittal to let my dad have a look around and taste a couple of samples. Then we were off to Shielfield to see what was on the cards. I volunteered my services and 50/50 draw tickets was the job needing done. So off to the stand we went to get early access to the chipvan for lunch before the hungry hungry fans arrived. Fish and chips for me so Pippa (dog) could have a bit of fish and then off to sell tickets.

i barely got my bum in the seat before East Fife scored and then five minutes later another one! It looked like we were in for a proper hiding, East Fife had a few decent chances but we held on to half time. The second half was a different game, Berwick were confident, winning tackles and had several good chances, we scored one eleven minutes after the second half started and we really should have scored again. Chance after chance went begging, some overthought, some not though out at all. It was frustrating to watch but satisfying too. It turned into a decent game and I know a couple of East Fife fans were uneasy for the remainder of the second half. East Fife had their chances too but Berwick looked a threat. Unfortunately we never managed to convert any of the chances we had and we are now out of the Scottish cup. Still a good performance in the second half and a team with desire and putting in the effort.

well the day started out early, I left the house at 7:30am to pick up my dad and get down to Berwick in time for the Supporters Trust AGM at 11am. We arrived just after 10am giving us a bit of time to potter around before the meeting. The usual trust stuff at the meeting, accounts, memberships etc and a few interesting points. The club have cut their deficit from £80k last year to £40k and are looking at plans to turn the club from a plc to a community club. Johnny Havery gave a good talk about his direction for the club and what he expects. Former Berwick Rangers goalkeeper Gary O’Connor was the guest speaker and gave a great account of his time at Berwick and other clubs. His time at Doncaster Rovers was short lived though as the chairman was jailed after paying somebody to burn down the main stand to claim the insurance.....

AGM done it was now a time killing exercise for my dad and I. We shuffled around the club before heading out to the park, essentially to keep an eye for the chip van opening.... sausage and chips for my dad today, no curry! Food consumed I was off to the black and gold to sell some 50/50 draw tickets. before returning to the stand for the game.

Albion Rovers looked a decent enough team and put Berwick under a lot of pressure, we managed to soak it up with a bit of luck thrown in. Healey scored in the 33rd minute, a shot off the bar landed favourably in a congested box and he slotted the ball home. 1=0 and a great relief. Albion Rovers still looked dangerous though but a penalty in the 66th minute was enough to keep them at bay. Sean Brennan had a couple of great saves to keep a clean sheet and we secured e valuable points. Results elsewhere saw us move up a place in the table to 8th. A long way to go but steps in the right direction.

As a club we are very short of volunteers on match days. We are especially short this Saturday due to illness and holidays. The club need volunteers to sell 50x50 tickets , to man the concession turnstile and bar work. Any one interested please be at the stadium at 1pm on Saturday.


I have volunteered my services, I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. You can’t support a part time club and not help out when they need it if you are in a position to do so.

well it’s an away trip to Stirling, rain and gales forecast so fun for all. Gordon’s bailed on this one, something about rain, can’t be bothered etc. I’ll go and pick up my dad and attend this one. It is more a sense of duty rather than enjoyment. I have no confidence in a win here, not with the state the team is in with injuries and last weeks 3 red cards. Still it’s nice to spend some time with my dad so that’s something. I have my new thick gloves at the ready and thermals to put on for this one. Last week was freezing at Shielfield and the last time I was at Forthbank it was one of the coldest football games I had ever been at.
The match preview for this one mentions that two players from the development team are stepping up into the main team. Jack Murray and Matthew O’Connor step up into the squad having shown good form with the Reserves this season. Jack Murray is sponsored by St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters and we wish him all the best and hope he gets an opportunity to show the new boss he’s worthy of a place.

we arrived in plenty of time as usual despite the roadworks. The turnstiles were open so we went in. A bit of pre match chat before the game where I found out our assistant manager would be the central defender. Desperate times at Berwick Rangers...
We had our chances again but cannot convert them, passing where we should have a shot and a shot where we should be passing. Sean Brennan had a great game pulling off some fantastic saves, without him the score would have been far greater. A fantastic double save and a penalty save has him as my man of the match for sure. The penalty save did result in him “bringing down the striker” who ran in to attack the loose ball and the referee awarding a penalty against Brennan for it which was bizarre. The penalty this time was off the bar. But Brennan wasn’t booked for the challenge which I thought he was going to be, last man red card? Thankfully that never happened. A reasonable travelling support despite the weather and recent run of results. We eventually made it back home after a few detours because of the roadworks and missing a couple of turns I should have taken but still an enjoyable day out despite the results. There’s alway drama at a Berwick game. Elgin City next week but I’ll pass on that one. A bit too far for me at the minute.