Shielfield Park, Tweedmouth, home of Berwick Rangers Football Club, for the benefit of those of you who can't pick out the grey letters against the same coloured background.
It does seem an eternity since I last visited this ground and indeed the Northernmost Northumbrian outpost of Berwick upon Tweed itself, which is full of so many memories for meWas it really only last summer that Falkirk rolled into town for that pre season friendly?
Berwick Rangers FC ground share with the local Speedway team Berwick Bandits ... and some local gardeners.
Above. Sixty minutes prior to kick off, life goes on as normal at Shielfield Park, a plant and shrub sale is in full swing as the Speedway track 'groundsman' waters his playing surface.
Saturday 2nd May 2009Scottish Football League Division 3
Berwick Rangers (0) 0
Montrose (0) 1
Kev Bradley 51
Attendance 418
Berwick's six consecutive game without a win.They are rooted one place above bottom team Elgin City, though mathematically they can still catch Albion Rovers (next bottom) up next weekend if they win at Elgin and today's visitors Montrose do them a favour against Albion Rovers.
Not exactly the same as the promotion BRFC enjoyed a couple of season's ago, is it!?
After 11 minutes Montrose got a 'soft' penalty when Tweed went down under a challenge in the box and it looked as if Berwick's fortunes were going to continue in the same vein again today.
But (pictured above, from 'The Ducket') Hegarty's penalty wasn't struck particularly well and Barclay managed to push it away to his right.
Berwick huffed and puffed but were lacking in the final third. While the Montrose player manager Steven Tweed marshalled the defence very well and led his team by example (hence the subtitle of this post all of ye who thought it was a geographical reference). He was man of the match by some way. Goalkeeper Tony Bullock was in a 'they shalt not pass' mood too on the couple of occasions BRFC did look like breaching the visitors rear guard.Montrose went ahead early in the second half when penalty hero Barclay could only parry out a Hegarty free kick and Kevin Bradley was on hand to whack home the loose ball.
It was a full 35 minutes before Montrose mounted another serious attack.
And most of Berwick's forward play in the second period broke down when the ball was punted into the box to the accompanying booming call of "Keeper's ball!"
Late in the game, Montrose conceded as blatant a penalty as I have seen all season, but neither the ref or linesman saw the defender stop Fraser McLaren's cross with his hand ... and so the game crawled over the finishing line 0-1 to Montrose. |
| No! This isn't me. |
A Borderers' fan looks up from her Agatha Christie novel to marvel at the excitement on offer during the second half.
(Above) Programme from Saturday August 19th 1972, Berwick Rangers v. Hearts, a 1-1 draw in the Scottish League Cup (Section 6), my first ever Hearts and/or Berwick Rangers game.Ironically Hearts played Montrose at home a few days later at Tynecastle in the same competition, another 1-1 draw, my first ever Hearts home game.
Hearts failed to qualify for the next stage of the competition from Section 6. It's small wonder my head was turned by the glamour of the Heart of Midlothian FC,
(Below) Programme from my most recent game at BRFC. On my previous visit (23.07.2008 v. Falkirk, friendly match), there were no programmes, but a kindly old gentleman gave me a team sheet and said "You here again? From all the way from down there? You must've been born simple or something!"
Once upon a time, I would quite like to have moved to Berwick upon Tweed and settled here, it would have been very useful to locate myself in North Northumberland for many reasons.Alas, it never seemed to be the right time and didn't happened.
Ach well ... retirement is only twenty five years away (unless the government change the mandatory OAP age to wring a few more years of taxes out of our ageing carcasses - again) so never say never, eh!?
