Once under way it unfolded as a pulsating, physical and hard-fought game that Berwick eventually won 2-1, however, the scoreline does not do justice to the dominance of Rangers or the brilliance of the Berwick keeper.
Rangers were on the offensiv
e from the whistle with Chris Gardner bursting through the middle to shoot just wide and Ryan Harrison firing across the face of the goal following a trademark Sam Eastham long throw.
Rangers forced a number of corners but superb delivery from Will Hall and Sam Eggleston was squandered as no one was able to convert. On 10 minutes, a Rangers corner was cleared upfield and the pacy Berwick forward line gained a corner of their own.
This was initially whacked clear by Ryan Pattinson but the loose ball was hit straight back from midfield in a high, looping shot that Kieran Taylor was unable to hold and it was flicked into the net at the near post.
This goal against the overall run of play led to a bit of disarray in the Rangers team and they soon found themselves two down as another corner went unchallenged on the line to leave an easy header.
The second goal sparked Longhoughton back into life and Will Hall in particular made some good runs down the left abetted by Jordan Turnbull. One such run brought a free-kick about 25 yards out but the curling effort went straight into the keeper's hands.
In the last few minutes of the half, a through-ball from midfield was picked up by Chris Gardner, who managed to shake off the attentions of the Berwick defence. His shot from 12 yards looked to be going inside the left-hand upright but a fantastic fingertip save guided the ball round the post.
Rangers finished the half as they had started by forcing a succession of corners, one of which was seized upon by Jack Gibson, who turned to shoot only to see his shot deflected onto the crossbar.
Early in the second half, another long throw was flicked on by Luke Evans. Gardner turned to shoot from six yards but found the side-netting. Sam Eastham then split the defence with a tremendous through-ball to send Gardner clear one-on-one with the keeper. He narrowed the angle and again made a great fingertip save to deny the goal.
Rangers continued to dominate the second half and limited Berwick to a couple of breaks that either went wide or were dealt with by the defence of Josh Briggs, Connor Thompson, new signing Eden Patterson, Jordan Briggs and Joe Lewis, with Thompson in particular playing a solid role in the middle.
Some reorganisation of the Ranger frontline moved Ryan Harrison to the right-wing and his intelligent football backed up by the strong right-sided play of Josh Briggs started to pay dividends as the pressure was piled on and a succession of scrambles in the box was cleared. Finally, the pressure told as a loose ball in the box was driven home by Eastham.
Rangers continued to press for an equaliser as the game drew to a close. Sam Eggleston picked up the two final attempts to score the equaliser, the pick of which was a 20-yard volley that unfortunately went straight to the keeper.
Team: K Taylor, J Gibson, E Patterson, Jordan Briggs, R Pattinson, Josh Briggs, S Eastham, S Eggleston, J Lewis, W Hall, J Turnbull, R Harrison.
Man-of-the-match: Connor Thompson.
