Berwick Rangers boss Martin Scott 'fully optimistic' despite Stenhousemuir cup exit

Berwick Rangers bowed out of the KDM Evolution Trophy at the hands of Championship promotion contenders Stenhousemuir, but not before producing a “brilliant” first-half display.

Away from home, the Borderers led 1-0 at the interval thanks to a Danny Handling strike after a quarter of an hour, but would eventually come undone in the second period, with goals from ex-Berwick talent Scott Bright, Andrew Shinnie, Dale Carrick, and Louis Lloyd sending the Falkirk outfit through to the next round.

But speaking after the final whistle, Berwick boss Martin Scott expressed his pride at a first-half showing in which his side more than matched their second tier hosts. He said: “Like any game, we’re obviously disappointed to lose, but the first half performance, it was brilliant from the lads, I think, in terms of them carrying out the game plan. It was an outstanding performance first half.

“I think overall the physicality and the fitness levels came out, and that's what we said at the time. We've got some really good young players but to get to the Championship level, you need that element of doing the right things away from the training that we get on a Tuesday and a Thursday night, and the games on a Saturday, and really refining certain aspects of your game. But again, there are so many positives to take from that performance.”

He added: “That game alone is so beneficial for our group of players, and to take the confidence from the first-half performance certainly. Now there's things within the performance that I wasn't happy with - obviously losing goals to a set-play - but if you look at the quality of delivery that the Stenhousemuir guys had and how they attacked the ball, there's loads of learning to take from that performance. But I think overall, to a man, our guys emptied the tank.”

Scott continued: “We’re disappointed to exit the cup overall, but it gives us a chance to really knuckle down and really get some time on the training pitch. I'm fully optimistic and got so much positivity after that performance tonight.”