Tweedmouth Rangers still looking for their first win in the league after defeat by Newburgh Juniors

Action from Tweedmouth Rangers' 2-0 defeat to Newburgh Juniors. Picture: Jez Grimwood

Tweedmouth Rangers welcomed Newburgh Juniors to Shielfield Park as they looked to claim their first three points of the season.

The visitors have also not had the best of seasons, and new manager Rikki McNeill watched the game from the stands before meeting the players for the first time after the match. Previous manager Allan Moody and his coaching team left to take charge at Hill of Beath earlier this month.

Both sides looked low on confidence in the first half, with Newburgh having the first chance of the game after 10 minutes when Kellar Harris was unable to convert a chance following a free kick. Then Ryan Dunn made a good stop following an effort by Mitchell Sharp, who had beaten Tweedmouth’s offside trap.

Sam Straughan almost got the breakthrough for Tweedmouth, his header going just wide of the post before a free kick by Ryan Dixon sailed just over the bar.

The visitors created a couple more chances as the half drew to a close, before Rhys Bloomfield drew a smart save from David Chalmers, who pushed his powerful shot out for a corner.

Tweedmouth had further chances in the second half but found Chalmers in excellent form, he ensured the home side were kept at bay by making crucial saves, stopping Ross Aitchison and Michael Robinson getting on the scoresheet, while Newburgh managed to take their chances.

Their first goal came after 49 minutes, Harris heading home from close range.

The visitors then had a penalty appeal waved away by the referee after Harris Mitchell was brought down in the area and Mitchell almost scored with a header that was just too high.

With Newburgh only 1-0 up, Tweedmouth were searching for an equaliser – Aitchison hit the crossbar and Craig Bell hit a close-range effort over the crossbar as they fought to get back in the game.

The second goal of the game came in the 86th minute and killed the match for Tweedmouth, Connall White sliding in to score.

As the game drew to a close, the visitors threatened to add to their tally, Jamie Fyfe seeing two good chances saved by Dunn and Ruairidh McPhate hitting a long-range effort just wide.