Berwick Rangers 0 v 1 Albion Rovers

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Attendance : 281

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Chaplain (70).

Albion Rovers headed south still smarting from last week's defeat at Cowdenbeath, a home win would have put Berwick top of the division but it was Rovers who left with all 3 points.

The match got underway with a distinct lack of atmosphere amongst the crowd of 289 perhaps indicative of the home sides recent form. Hutchison had a weak shot cleared by Jamie Ewings within the first 60 seconds. A minute later he had a shot blocked which rebounded to teammate Ian Little whose shot was also blocked.

In 13 minutes Rovers had their first opportunity to score when Steven Noble curled a free-kick from the far touchline to 'keeper Craig Coyle on his line. A few minutes later George Wallace went on a run up the near side cutting in towards the Berwick goal, he unleashed a low shot from a tight angle which was blocked by the foot of 'keeper Coyle. The ball found its way to Reid who was in a good position 6 yards out but the resulting shot was cleared off the line by a defender.

This period saw Berwick tormenting Rovers who hadn't quite yet found their feet, Hutchison taking advantage of weak defensive play only to have his attempt cleared off Rovers line. Another near miss by the Borderers preceded Stephen Donachy finding himself in the clear bearing down on the opposition goal, Coyle advanced from his goal but failed to make the tackle. Donachy poked the ball goalward with 2 defenders chasing it without a realistic chance of catching it, luckily for them it was marginally wide of the goals.

Kevin Gordon came close in 32 minutes when a quality shot was met with an equally impressive stop by Ewings which gave him the ball once more, this time however he gave it too much elevation to worry the Rovers' 'keeper. In 39 minutes Hibs on-loan midfielder Jay Shields should have done better than hit the ball to Ewings.

With half-time approaching Tommy Lennox turned a Berwick attack into a Rovers counter-strike ending with Stephen Reid firing wide of the target.

Half-Time

The second half saw Rovers hitting up the Shielfield slope which oddly seemed to help them after a lacklustre first 45 minutes. Kevin McLeish hit a free-kick straight to Ewings followed a few minutes later with the custodian of Rovers goal going down after taking a face-knock stopping play. This didn't prevent Berwick having 2 post-whistle shots cleared from the line by defenders anyway.

Rovers were well in control now having a lot of possession and in 55 minutes a long ball found Stephen Reid 10 yards from the Rangers goal but his lob was too high.

A couple of bookings for Rovers players within a minute followed, Noble for a foul and Ewings for kicking the ball away after the awarding of a disputed corner.

A Little attempt failed just before Rovers capitalised on their dominance with Scott Chaplain grabbing the lead. The midfielder took advantage of defensive ineptitude to advance on the homesters goal and drill a low shot under the diving 'keeper.

A speculative long-range effort by Chris McGroarty didn't trouble Ewings then Gordon Lennon did some of his trademark defending in the centre of the park. Unfortunately the quality of his shot at the Berwick goal when he reached it didn't match the lead up.

In 80 mins Ewings made a good one handed save being apparently fouled in the process but referee Tumilty allowed play to continue and Berwick had a shot cleared off the goal line.

Four minutes later an incident dubbed "the hand of Gord" by one wag saw a cross ball enter Rovers penalty area from close to the corner. Kevin Gordon headed the ball from 6 yards onto what some, but not the officials thought was Gordon Lennon's gloved hand.

Rovers survived another scare with just a couple of minutes remaining when Ewings made a superb diving save with one hand from a Hutchison shot.

A couple of late substitutions by Jim Chapman were followed by Rovers keeping possession as much as possible deep into opposition territory.

Ian Little of the home side also received a booking during the match.

Summary

Despite a weak start to the match Albion Rovers dragged themselves into the game against a disjointed Berwick side to gain a well deserved win. The 3 points gained are invaluable as Rovers try to draw away from perennial bottom-dogs and next weeks opponents East Stirlingshire.

Berwick Rangers : Coyle, Murie (McGarty 66), McGroarty, McNicoll, Horn, Shields (Swanson 79), McLeish, Hutchison, Haynes (Arthur 73), Gordon, Little. Subs Not Used : Di Silva, O'Connor.

Albion Rovers : Ewings, Lennox, McGhee, Lennon, Donnelly, Friel, Reid (Doyle 84), Chaplain, Wallace (Young 89), Noble (Wilson 90), Donachy. Subs Not Used : Sichi, Quinn. 

Referee : Mike Tumilty

Man of the Match - Jamie Ewings

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