Ten-man Rangers open season with win
Grant Nelson endured a long half hour in the bowels of MKM Shielfield Park agonising to the sounds of the crowd.
The cheer that went up to greet the final whistle must have had him blowing out his cheeks in relief as 10-man Rangers held out for three points.
Nelson was shown a red card after 60 minutes and had to wander back down the tunnel to tear the tape off his socks and lob his shinpads against the wall in frustration after picking up a second yellow card.
Boss Thomas Scobbie felt that the decision had been a bit undeserved but was delighted that his side dug deep and showed resilience to shut out visitors Linlithgow Rose.
“The sending off changes the game and spoils it - I thought it was harsh as Grant only made two tackles in the game so he was a little unfortunate and I’m sure he was relieved that we managed to get the win,” he said.
“It was a really tough second half after the sending off and the lads had to be mentally switched on and defended extremely well so that was a massive positive for us as we had a number of young players playing and guys playing out of position,” continued Scobbie.
“We had conceded a few goals from set plays during pre-season so to get the clean sheet and defend set pieces well was very pleasing and I thought both centre backs were excellent and really led by example.”
Berwick got their Lowland League season off to a dream start when Liam Buchanan raced clear to cooly steer an effort low past the advancing keeper and into the net after just four minutes.
“It’s Liam's twenty-third season and to no one’s surprise he gets a goal,” said the gaffer.
“He does it in training every session and still has a real appetite to score goals which is great to see. Aaran (Laidlaw) had a tireless job up top on his own second half but worked so hard for the team so really pleased for him also.”
New signing Max McGinley went straight into the squad for the game.
Berwick travel to Tranent’s Forester’s Park in the SLFL this Saturday.