Despite two wins out of three and a goal difference in the black, Berwick Rangers Reserves missed out on a place in the Final of the Reserve Challenge Cup, so named so as to distinguish it from the Reserve Cup competed for by teams in the higher division of SPFL reserve football.
Both competitions started with teams divided into sections. In the Challenge Cup, Livingston won Berwick’s four team East section and will play the winners of the five team West group, currently headed by Ayr United Reserves, to determine the destination of the trophy.
Berwick wound up the first half of their season with last week’s 6-2 Cup win over Stirling Albion at Glenrothes. Last season’s top scorer Grant Rose netted a hat trick which puts him ahead in the goal tally for this campaign with six followed by Marc Malloy, who also scored in that game, now on five.
Berwick’s second team, for which the Supporters Trust is once more providing financial support, is not scheduled to resume competitive matches until late January and with all teams in SPFL Reserve League 2 having played eight games, currently sit in 8th spot on six points which equals the distance between them and bottom side Raith Rovers. At the other end of the table, it is again Livingston in front having won all but their opening fixture against Ayr United.
The set up may have changed from Development ( Under 20 ) to Reserve League but at most of the competing clubs the emphasis continues to be on younger players though Aaron Murrell, Jamie Todd and ‘The Penicuik Three’ have all appeared for Berwick in the last two months. Plus of course, 35 year old former Black and Gold keeper Billy Bald answered an emergency call to play between the posts when Berwick kicked off their Challenge Cup bid at Livingston in October.