Pic: A piece of good timing as the shows were in town for the first match of Robbie Horn’s managerial career at Berwick but unfortunately it was the Queen of the South forwards who waltzed through Berwick’s defence as they earned a place in the third round of the Irn Bru Cup.
Berwick more or less matched their full time Championship opponents in the first half but the effort involved in doing so took its toll and was one cause of their second half collapse. Neither side had many real scoring opportunities during the opening 45 minutes. Berwick’s best fell to Greg Rutherford in the 11th minute. Rangers headed away a free kick from Queens’ Callum Tapping before Kevin McKinlay sent an excellent cross over the heads of backtracking Q.O.S. defenders to Rangers’ front man who went for a first time shot. It looked good enough to beat Jack Leighfield but to ‘Oohs’ from home fans ran beyond the far side of goal.
Aaron Murrell challenges in the first half. (Picture courtesy Caledoniaphoto.co.uk)
Rangers’ only other shot of note followed a build up involving Godinho and Michael McKenna. Aaron Murrell, with back to goal, managed to turn to test Leighfield, the pink clad goalie unable to take the ball cleanly at the first attempt.
Are the fans saluting or trying to see past the glare of the sun?
In the middle region of the home half, Pat Scullion’s pass intended for McKinlay lacked sufficient power to reach his teammate enabling Tapping to take the ball forward but not far enough. With no one close enough to challenge, his long, way off target effort was greeted with groans from the travelling support. On another occasion when Berwick conceded possession, Stephen Dobbie fired over the bar. With a later attempt, he aimed straight at Robby McCrorie.
The goal glut began eight minutes after the break. Derek Lyle supplied Shaun Rooney as he ran through the defence and the blues’ no. 2 hit the ball high into the net. Five minutes later, Dobbie easily passed two defenders to slip the ball past McCrorie’s left. On the hour, Dobbie had a hand in the next one, finding another big hole in the home rearguard for Lyle to finish. The ten minutes of torment culminated in Dobbie’s pinpoint precision ensuring that his cracking shot from outside the box ended up just inside the post.
Michael McKenna cross in one of Berwick’s rare forward forays in the second half. (Picture courtesy Caledoniaphoto.co.uk)
Urged on by Stevie Notman, Rangers rallied a little after this. Steven Thomson juggled the ball before forcing Leighfield into a save and then curled another ball around the far post. However, Queen of the South again flexed their muscle and even with two men trying to pay him close attention, Dobbie got the ball away to John Rankin only for him to sweep it over the bar. This was also the destination of a header from centre half Darren Brownlie. Sub Christopher Kane was on target after running on to a through ball. If there was any suspicion of offside, deflated Rangers’ players made no attempt to appeal and were probably glad to hear the final whistle three minutes later.
