Berwick Rangers boss Kevin Haynes explains anger at manner of Broxburn Athletic defeat

Berwick Rangers boss Kevin Haynes has admitted that he was “angry” with the manner in which his side conceded both goals in their 2-0 defeat to Broxburn Athletic on Saturday afternoon.

The Borderers’ struggles in the Lowland League East continued as they twice failed to deal with set-pieces from their hosts, costing them dearly in an otherwise even contest. Chris O'Kane struck in the first half to put Broxburn ahead at the interval, with a Ali Shreeve volley on the hour-mark taking the game beyond Berwick, who were repeatedly thwarted by Athletic goalkeeper Kyle King.

And speaking after the final whistle, Haynes expressed his frustration as a tight affair slipped away from his travelling side. He said: “I thought it was fairly balanced, pretty even. I think we created a few decent opportunities and we've kind of been punished for not taking them. There's two sides to the game - the first one is not taking our chances and the second one is the two sloppy goals that we've conceded from the second phase at set-pieces.

“I'm angry about that, we spoke about it at half-time. I can think back to the Hearts game and I can think back to the Brechin game where we've done the same - we've switched off in the second phase. We spoke about it at half-time, you think you've addressed it at half-time, and lo and behold, 15 minutes later we do it again. So from that perspective, you probably deserve nothing from the game if you're going to defend like that, but on the other side, I think we created enough chances to win the game.”

He continued: “I've said for a long time we're a good side when we get going and we get motoring and we pass the ball well and we build up play well. Probably the last element - slipping someone in was maybe under-hit, the cross was over-hit - but as I say, the Broxburn goalkeeper has had three or four saves where [Callum] Antell's not had any. I can't think of anything Antell's had to do apart from pick the ball at the back of the net, so I feel sorry for him.”