Berwick Rangers 3 v 0 Albion Rovers

Attendance : 415

Scorers ~ Berwick Rangers : Wood (9, 84), Thomson (37).

Albion Rovers missed a crucial opportunity to close the gap in the table leaving them nine points off Stenhousemuir a place above. Neither side seemed settled and this was evident from the large percentage of passes failing to find a teammate. The scoreline somewhat flattered the English side but they weren't complaining. Iain Chisholm made a welcome return to Rovers ranks from injury.

Hope was injected into the travelling hoards when Bryan Felvus streaked up the wing evading capture as he went, regrettably the eventual cross didn't match the quality of the run. Gordon Lennon showed sharpness when he harried an attacker until the attention was too much for the Rangers man and Lennon gained the ball taking it away to safety.

In nine minutes Rovers went behind when Gary Wood ran onto a through ball with a hint of offside, he hit the ball low from the edge of Rovers box and it went in at the post.

Berwick were boosted by this goal and Ian Thomson looked confident on the ball close to Rovers goal, he pottered about trying to make space to fire. His eventual shot cannoned off the goalpost to safety.

Kevin Haynes became the first of four Berwick men to have their name taken when he tugged Lennon's shirt. Jamie Doyle had a free-kick not far from the Berwick penalty area and managed to get the ball through the assembled wall but 'keeper Chris Flockhart got to the ball before Rovers attack could get there.

Jamie Ewings didn't have any difficulty stopping a weak shot caused by sloppy defending six yards from Rovers goal. Martin McBride featuring for the first time in six weeks saw his free-kick whiz into the homesters area only to be deflected into the arms of Flockhart.

In 37 minutes Rovers went further behind when Thomson smashed the ball into the net after Gary Greenhill had his shot touched into the crossbar by Ewings.

Half-Time

Lennon tried to get the second half started with a bang but the shot was too high, McBride was next to have a go but his low shot was inches wide of the mark as Flockhart scrambled to cover.

Still plugging away Doyle swung in a cross onto Dave McFarlane's head but the ball went out for a corner. Brian Smith blasted the ball goalward for Rovers, unfortunately the 'keeper managed to tip the ball over his bar.

Rovers came close when Scott Chaplain fired the ball onto the Berwick post and it rebounded to Flockhart who'd dived for the original shot. This may have reminded the home side that their lead wasn't completely unassailable and Haynes crossed the ball to Wood in space at the edge of Rovers box, Ewings was quick off the mark and did enough to put the striker off, gaining a goal-kick.

Ewings was called into action once more when he raced out to clear a long upfield punt, he fluffed the kick and instead stood on the ball which confused the advancing attacker enough to allow the 'keeper to clear the danger.

A wayward Chaplain shot preceded a rare treble substitution by Rovers gaffer Jim Chapman which saw strikers Chisholm and Walker come on. McFarlane worked to make space but was disappointed when his attempt was a foot wide of the goal.

Berwick substitute Scott Lucas looked dangerous when he advanced up the wing but it ended when he sliced the ball 15 yards wide of goal. Thompson ran in on goal and unleashed a low shot from the edge of Rovers penalty area only to see it intercepted by Ciaran Donnelly with Ewings seemingly having it covered anyway.

Denis McLaughlin received a cross which had Donnelly stand appealing for offside as the Berwick man ran in and chipped the ball to Ewings. With six minutes remaining Berwick scored when McLaughlin put a free-kick into Rovers box which was met by a Wood glancing header and Ewings couldn't reach.

Iain Chisholm ended the match with a run and inaccurate shot at the Rangers goal.

Summary

A much improved 2nd half performance from Albion Rovers but the damage was done in the first period and they just couldn't score.

Berwick Rangers : Flockhart, Manson, Campbell (Lucas 70), Horn, Smith, McNicoll, Thomson (Shand 78), Fraser, Haynes (McLaughlin 75), Wood, Greenhill. Subs Not Used : McCallum, Connon.
 
Albion Rovers : Ewings, Watson, Nicoll, Lennon, Donnelly, Doyle (Moffat 69), McBride (Walker 69), Chaplain, McFarlane, Felvus (Chisholm 69), Smith. Subs Not Used: Sim, Thompson.

Referee : A. Law

Man of the Match - Gordon Lennon

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