Berwick Rangers ease past Linton Hotspur in midweek cup rout

Berwick Rangers manager Kevin Haynes cut a much more satisfied figure after his side’s 4-0 East of Scotland Qualifying Cup victory over Linton Hotspur on Tuesday evening.

The Borderers boss pulled no punches in his post-match assessment of Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Hill of Beath, admitting that he was “embarrassed” by his team’s display at Shielfield Park.

But Rangers’ midweek outing made for much happier viewing as they cruised their way to an eye-catching triumph. Danny Handling opened the scoring for the hosts early on before Struan Mair doubled their advantage after 20 minutes. Josh O’Connor then struck in first-half stoppage time to give Berwick a 3-0 lead heading into the break, and Callum Mackay completed the rout with a fourth in the final ten minutes to ensure the Dream Team registered their first competitive victory of the season.

Reflecting on his side’s showing after the final whistle, Haynes said: “We had to react positively, which I think we did. Again, we've got to utilise the full squad in all competitions that we're going to compete in, so there were a few changes. In an ideal situation, the team that finished the game on Saturday, you really want to stick them back in and get a reaction, but we're not in that fortunate position - so we've rotated the team a little bit, but as a group I think we reacted pretty positively.

“We created a few more [chances]. Had we scored six or seven, it probably would have been fair - although the other ones were probably half chances. But there were still good opportunities to score goals. I was just more pleased with the intensity that we played at.”

Berwick’s next fixture see them travel to Brechin City on Saturday in search of their first win of the Lowland League East of the season, and Haynes is expecting a stern test in Angus. He added: “Brechin are a good side - we've watched them twice now, we've got a report, we know how they play.

“They're vastly experienced, a lot of league players - a physical side, a good side, and it's a massive challenge going up to there. A three-hour travel to anywhere is a challenge, but to play somebody as good as them, it's going to be a hard day. We need to believe in ourselves. We've got wrongs that we need to put right in terms of league games.”