A trip down on Friday afternoon in the wind and rain for this one. Dad at home and wife and doggie with me on this trip. I was unsure if the game would go ahead but we were down for the weekend so it wouldn’t matter. Too much, we could sit and watch a movie or two.

A trust meeting kicked off the Saturday. 11am at Shielfield, I headed up in the sunshine/rain/snow/sunshine.......
I’ve missed a couple of meetings due to various things so I really needed to make this one. Big news too, I’ve finally managed to gain access to the trust bank account. The many hurdles the bank of Scotland put up finally knocked down after a few months! I need access to check payments to keep the membership up to date. That’s now a job for next week along with printing off address labels for the trust magazine.
Trust discussions were based around joint in the Supporters trust and Supporters club together, the 1881 fund and the weather!

Meeting finished I pottered around for a bit before deciding to head off to Ruth’s dads or an hour or so, Ruth and the doggie were already there. Back to the club around 2pm and helping out with a few tasks. The guys form Northstar were there again this week, not in hospitality but in the stand. I met them at the front door by chance and rather than them walking back to the turnstile I lead them down the tunnel to the stand then popped off and bought them some tea/coffee and some halftime draw tickets. Snow/sun/rain/snow/sun.

Blizzard conditions 15 minutes before kickoff turned to a bit of sunshine, still freezing cold though as the teams came out. I was in the Ducket for the first half in the stand for the second half.


It was a poor show in the first half, the weather didn’t help but positioning was all over the place again. i don’t want to pick on individuals so I won’t but grumble grumble grumble. The second half wasn’t much better but substitutions late in the game changed the shape enough to see us score 2 (yes 2 goals). Smith scoring a header from a cross for his first goal since joining us last month and a bit of a scramble for the 2nd from Thomson secured the 3 points. Next up away to Dalbeattie star (assuming it’s on). Our next home game and last home game of the season is the 11th of April!

Assuming storm Dennis doesn’t scupper this one I’ll be heading to Broadwood stadium. I’m not sure if my dad will be with me if it’s cold and wet. I’ll still need to go see him and my mum to take care of a few jobs. Look at my mums printer, fit a new ceiling light in the kitchen and take a mattress to the tip (superking orthopaedic so that will be fun!). I’m not sure what to expect from the game. The reverse fixture was a 2-2 draw back in September. I’m not sure we are a better team than we were then. Colts are sitting in 9th on 32 points having played 24 games and we are sitting in 12th on 20 points having played 22 games. We have been thumped in the last 2 games and have recorded only 2 wins and 2 draws out of the last 10 to net 8 points from a possible 30. Still let’s hope for the best and 3 points.

Chores finished at my folks, mattress cut in half with a saw and disposed of, light fitted and a new printer bought and setup and we were on our way.
We made it through the driving rain to Broadwood. My dad was sure it would be called off but it was still on. The rain wasn’t so bad at the game as it was on the way there. Plenty of parking too and not a huge crowd. Perhaps 100? With at least 50 of them Berwick fans. Halftime draw tickets purchased and off to the stand.

There’s a fairly comprehensive match report on Facebook. But my tuppence worth is coming up here. We should have won this one but we came away with a goalless draw.

Overall it was a much better performance from the team but the lack of a viable goal threat still haunts us. Perhaps we need to change shape and stick a striker upfront and keep them there. We had much more of the possession and some good chances but Cumbernauld had a few chances and if one had gone in I couldn’t see us pulling it back. It’s just a case of surviving this season and seeing what next season brings but I would still like to see a victory between now and the end of the season. Perhaps a run in the Lowland a league cup?

Well I recovered just in time from my bug and my dad was feeling better after last weekend so we headed on down for this one. We were booked into the meal that was before the game and I had paid for some members the Northstar centre to attend so I didn’t want to miss it. I was on camera duty too for this game so off we trotted leaving about 9:30am hoping the weather wouldn’t cancel the game.

We arrived in plenty of time as usual, quite windy on the drive down but seems to calm as we approached Berwick. No rain so likely the game would be on. Lunch was at 12:30 so hoping that would still be on anyway! Steak pie for me followed by chocolate fudge cake and Macaroni for my dad followed by apple crumble. It was actually quite good, well worth £30. 2 courses, match ticket, program, team-sheet and halftime buffet for £30 is a great deal. I could only manage a cup of tea at half time though and that was to warm my hands rather than actually wanting a cup. Eric Tait was in full swing entertaining the room with his tales and the guests from the Northstar Center were enjoying themselves. Lunch finished we moved to the JB lounge and I sorted a few things and collected the camera to record the game.

Yay! We scored first, what could go wrong! It was a goal that looked like it took several deflections on the way in but it still went in. It’s hard to see when filming, all you are looking at is a tiny screen. Alan will edit the footage and put it online when he gets back. East Stirling pulled one back though and it was 1-1 at half time. Now the wheels came off and this is why my match report type section of my blog is so poor. It’s easy to write about a victory but we let 4 in to finish the game 5-1 down. Same criticisms as previous weeks, poor defending, passing, shooting, positioning. Our new striker looks non existent too so that’s pretty depressing. I doubt he will bag a goal before the season ends without some real improvement. The team do run, effort is there but it’s not happening. 22 games played, 20 points. The Lowland league cup is at the end of the season. Dare we dream we could actually muster some enthusiasm, some energy and get it together to make an actual push for a trophy?

Do we change manager? Is there any point? Who would we attract? We’ve had 6 mangers in 5 years and will soon become a toxic club who can’t attract anybody. Obviously questions are to be asked of the manager and his team but as long as we have reasonable answers there no point in change. Time will hopefully build consistency and stability in the squad. (I hope).

Not far to travel for this one, just over an hour away by car. I had contacted BSC Glasgow to ask about disabled parking and they were very prompt and said they would reserve a space near the entrance for me (taking my dad). My dads not going now though due to health issues but BSC and all the lower league teams should be commended for the accessibility they have offered. The worse experiences we have had is at bigger clubs who have policies etc in place but seem somewhat in able to act on them. The worst experience we had was at Motherwell (Berwick away in the Betfred cup) when the stewards wouldn’t let us in the home end after I had contacted the club to arrange parking and I was told we could enter there and go to the away stand. There was no reasoning with these guys. My dad had to walk around the stadium, uphill stopping several times. When we got to the away end we were faced with an empty car park! I asked the steward if I could bring the car round but no chance mate. I explained the circumstances but the attitude was appalling. Hired help that have no connection to the club and couldn’t give a monkeys. Only able to do the job they have been assigned with no emotion or understanding. He actually said the he was only hired to “mind the area” what ever that means....

Well I arrived in plenty of time and got parked easily in the car park and walked round to the entrance. I’ve never been there before but it’s a decent ground. A bit odd that you can’t actually see anybody at the turnstile. It’s a brick wall with a hole just above the turnstile that you have to bend down to look through to speak to anybody. Still once that was negotiated i was in and had a chat with one of the BSC guys. The usual stuff, difficulty of lowland league etc. Next it was stovies, a bargain at £1.50. A chit chat with some Berwick guys then a seat in the stand.

First strike to Berwick! A cracking free kick and we are in the lead, Happy days, can we actually do this. Well no we can’t..... 3-1 at halftime and 4-1 at the final whistle. Brought back down to earth with a thump. Yes BSC are higher in the league but we should be better, better passing, better possession, better shooting. Again many chances for a strike but we run it wide, take an extra touch and generally produce a frustrating performance. A red card towards the end adds to the overall disappointment. It’s unlikely we will go down, we are 12 points off the bottom spot with 9 games to play. But it’s a conversation that’s on the terraces. Memories of last seasons relegation still fresh when we were in above Albion Rovers and they turned it around. Like last season we aren’t picking up the points. Next week is Edinburgh University. They are second bottom but that doesn’t make, them a pushover. They will be looking for the points to secure their league status and could see Berwick as an opportunity to do so. Actually it not Edinburgh it’s East Stirling next. Not an easy game there either.

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.

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.

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.

A short one this week, busy weekend wrapping up what seems like a million Christmas presents and all the running about that Christmas drops on the doorstep
It was a. trip down with my dad for this game with a boot full of Christmas presents for my wife’s family who are in Berwick. A Santa run for the day. Once that was sorted it was to Foulis in Tweedmouth for the all day breakfast before heading to Shielfield. Hospitality was booked for this game but I would also be cameraman too. Alan doesn’t get anywhere near enough credit for this. Recording the game takes you out of it somewhat, not able to interact with anybody really. Watching. The game on a tiny screen. He then does the editing too. So thanks Alan for all the effort. It’s very much appreciated.

Berwick are fielding a smaller pool of players at the moment due to various injuries but had the ex Berwick player Darren Smith was in the squad as a trialist. Manager Ian Little commented “We are delighted to have brought Darren back to Berwick. With his experience and calmness on the pitch we think he will be an outstanding addition to help our young squad. He will also play a big part in our backroom staff and will certainly bring a lot of qualities to the club”. Gretna took the lead in the first half after a defensive mixup saw Berwick’s keeper fumble the shot from the Gretna number 9 to make it 1-0. Berwick equalised in the first half when a penalty for handball was confidently dispatched by Ricky Miller to level the game. Halftime 1-1.
Berwick dominated the second half pushing for the win and creating many chances that they were unable to convert. Gretna threatened on occasion but the Berwick defence soaked up the pressure.
Darren Smiths introduction at halftime seemed to be the experience the young Berwick squad were needing and Smith scored the winner with a looping ball into the top corner after cutting inside and beating two players to secure 3 valuable points for Berwick. Smith signed for the club after the game to become a Berwick player once more having left Berwick in 2005.
Full time 2-1.
Berwick next opponents will be an away game to Stirling University.

It was a trip down of the Friday for this one. My dad tucked up at home. I was unsure if the game would go ahead anyway, it was so cold. My wife was due to be marshalling a race for Tweed striders on the Sunday morning so were we’re planning on staying over anyway. This was a fixture free Saturday but the BSC game was a midweek postponement. I had various things to do in Berwick, visit the foodbank to drop off some selection boxes (40 of them), visit B.A.R.K to drop stuff off there (they were shut but I’ll try next week) and also dropping off some money for Berwick Cancer cars. I also picked up a barrel of beer from Bear Claw brewery for a Christmas party at work. A busy weekend.

I was expecting a hiding, damage limitation but we actually put up a decent performance. Sadly we still lost though and we are hovering around the bottom of the table. A place we don’t need to be. The game started with the ref requesting a kit change. The BSC fan I was talking to couldn’t understand what the ref was doing requesting a change of kits. BSC playing in their home kit (yellow) and Berwick in their away kit (green) was requested. There would have been no clash with BSC in Blue (their away) or yellow (their home) and Berwick in Black and Gold as far as I could see.

Anyway, kickoff time and in the 13th minute we have a straight red card. Puzzled faces all round, even the BSC fans were left wondering what happened. The ref had been ok up to that point, missed a few things that others might have picked up but that’s the nature of the game. We held on to end the half 0-0 and we put in a reasonable show to be fair. We are not where we want to be, that’s a given but we looked better than last week.
So the next step after a red card is usually for Berwick to give away a penalty (not related to the red card I might add) and we did just that. BSC score and we were left chasing the game. The ref was losing it a bit now though, decisions sliding on both sides. The BSC manager having a screaming match about an offside decision. The ball hit the ref twice and he never halted play, once took a deflection that lead to a dangerous BSC attack. BSC had a man sent off for dissent with about 10 minutes to go. A double yellow. Quite harsh I felt (although happy to see it as a Berwick fan to perhaps give us a chance at an equaliser). The ref couldn’t get the second yellow out of his pocket quickly enough.

Again points dropped though, another week of almost but almost doesn’t put points on the board. Next up Gretna 2008 at Shielfield. Gretna are sitting below us on 6 points to our 12. Surely we must add another 3 point on Saturday. The game should go ahead as the temperature is rising throughout the coming week and no rain is forecast.
I’ll be in Hospitality for that game and also on cameraman duties, so it will be a quick cup of tea at halftime for me then.

An early start for this one. A Supporters Trust meeting at 11am means leaving the house at around 7:30am and collecting my dad just before 8am before heading to Berwick. It would be myself, my dad, my brother and his wife at the game my wife and dog coming to Berwick with us but not attending the match. My brother and his wife having headed down to Berwick on Friday. I had hospitality booked and hoping that the game wouldn’t be off because of the rain. (It wasn’t.....).

Plenty of rain on the way down but the game was still on. Family dropped off in Spittal and off the Shielfield for the Trust meeting. A change of venue from the pilot inn but much easier to get parked. The meeting was a bit longer than expected but there were a few things to discuss. I’m the new membership secretary and still have a few things to sort out but I’m getting there. Bill the previous secretary had a comprehensive set of documents that I need to tweak (update addresses etc) and it looks like the bank have finally granted me access to the account to check payments (the biggest stumbling block).

Trust meeting finished it was off to collect the troops (dog included) and head to the leaping salmon for lunch. Cheap and cheerful but with the usual mixup (chicken sub ordered, chicken club arrives but obviously we say nothing because it’s not worth the hassle). Lunch finished and it’s off the Shielfield.

We arrive, usual stuff can of coke and watch the first half of the Scotland game on the tv, buy half time draw tickets etc. Then outside to watch the game.
I actually won the £200 Black and Gold bond prize at half time (money will be going to Berwick cancer cars).

Well it was a 4-0 victory to Berwick at the end of the game. The first half however was dreadful. Miller scored a penalty late in the first half to east the pressure but it was a pretty poor performance. The second half however saw a different team emerge scoring early in the half with a great cross into the box that Osei nodded in at the back post. Chalmers scored the third from close range, poking in the ball. Late on in the second half Miller scored the second penalty of the game (couldn’t tell why we got the penalty though). A crucial 3 points that we desperately need to build on. An interruption in the league next as it’s away to Kelty Hearts in the football nations cup on Tuesday night. (Kelty won 7-1 today).