Berwick’s Jordyn Sheerin and Arbroath’s Ricky Little challenge for the ball in the first half of the 1-1 draw ( Photo courtesy of Alan Raeburn )
Saturday, October 29th, 2016 SPFL 2
BERWICK RANGERS 1 ARBROATH 1
Berwick and Arbroath drew 1-all for the second time this season. The quality of football may have been moderate but a tense finish ensured that those leaving the terraces before the end stayed inside the ground until Grant Irvine blew for full time.
First half incidents included;
15 minutes: Darren Lavery and Jordyn Sheerin sent Greg Rutherford through on goal with Arbroath keeper Ricky Gomes doing well to block the new man’s shot.
18 minutes: Kevin Walker parried a long shot from David Gold.
20 minutes: After the Josh Morris experience the previous week, home fans could have been forgiven for thinking, ‘Here we go again’ when ex-Shielfield man Gold put the visitors ahead. He was poised to fire from distance again but drove forward, riding an illegal tackle on the way, before hitting the net.
31 minutes: Omar Kader kept on running despite the proximity of a clutch of Black and Gold shirts but ended his burst by shooting over Walker’s bar.
42 minutes: Lavery’s lob took a deflection forcing Gomes into anacrobatic one-handed save.
In contrast, two minutes into the second half, Gomes was rooted to the spot as Berwick equalised via Steven Thomson’s free kick after Mark Whatley’s illicit challenge on Sheerin just to the left of the ‘D’.At one end, Kader lifted the ball over the top once more; at the other Thomson floated it just beyond the junction of the post and crossbar.
It’s in! Steven Thomson’s 47th minute free kick hits the back of the net as goalie Ricky Gomes is left standing ( Photo courtesy of Alan Raeburn )
Arbroath’s Gary Phillips, Martin Scott and Bobby Linn could only blame themselves for an assortment of failed attempts on goal. But it was only more good goalkeeping which denied Sheerin on 66 minutes after Thomson put him through. Gomes made a point blank save equal to the one which stopped Rutherford in the first half.
Injured in a later collision with Gomes, Sheerin was replaced by Greg Hurst. The on loan player appeared to have been guilty of a bad miss when the Arbroath custodian was drawn out of his area by Rutherford’s charge forward. In fact, a slight deflection off an Arbroath man was the reason Hurst didn’t find the empty net, Berwick winning a corner instead.
With minutes remaining, Rangers won another free kick in much the same spot as before. Liam Callaghan’s foul on Lavery caused the Berwick man some pain. Rutherford made the dummy run but Thomson could not repeat his earlier performance, the ball going over the bar. Nevertheless, ‘Thommo’ was a worthy choice as the match sponsor’s home man of the match. Apart from his goal, he was easily Berwick’s most creative player and along with Rutherford was involved in their last bid to snatch a winner. Alas, the move was concluded with a non threatening shot from
Lavery.
Berwick rangers: Walker, Hamilton ( Orru 87 ), Martin, Notman ( Stirling 83 ), Wilson, Fairbairn, Thomson, Beveridge, Lavery, Rutherford, Sheerin ( Hurst 72 )
Attendance: 390
