Berwick Rangers boss Martin Scott urges 'support' after East Stirlingshire defeat

Berwick Rangers relinquished an early two-goal lead as East Stirlingshire came from behind to record a 5-2 victory at Shielfield Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Borderers had catapulted themselves into a commanding position thanks to strikes from Blair MacDonald and Bayley Klimionek, but were unable to hang on to their advantage, and found themselves level at the break courtesy of a Michael Weir brace for the visitors.

From there, East Stirlingshire would kick on again, with Sonny Aluko completing their comeback early in the second period and Weir sealing his hat-trick not long after Berwick talent Josh O’Connor had a penalty saved by Jay Cantley. Chris Ogilvie would then wrap up a disappointing afternoon for Rangers with a fifth goal for the away side.

And speaking after the final whistle, manager Martin Scott delivered his verdict on a chaotic encounter. He said: “It felt like three different games in one, to be honest with you. A really positive start and you go 2-0 up in the game, and you think you're in total control at that point.

“We probably stopped doing the basics and the fundamentals that were getting us success, and that's what we said to the players in there. Obviously, they score to make it 2-1 and you can see immediately our guys, it looked like the weight of the world was on their shoulders. It goes to two each...

“Obviously, they score in the second half. I feel like we get momentum in the game, and obviously we get a penalty kick and that happens in games of football, as you know. We miss the penalty kick and we probably open up too much at that point, and it goes to 4-2 and obviously overall 5-2.

“It's a disappointing scoreline, the result, if you like, but it's not a motivational thing for the players. You can see they need support, they need guidance, education, and they need the club and the people that support the club to stick with the players, that's the biggest thing for me. I think they're motivated to do well and you can see that when we speak after the game, but ultimately we have to have action within that.”

Berwick currently sit 14th in the Lowland League East table, having amassed just half a dozen points from their opening 13 matches of the new campaign. Their next league outing comes away at Cowdenbeath on Saturday, November 7th.