Berwick Rangers 1 – 1 Arbroath – Match Summary
The Lichties left Shielfield Park with a point after the proverbial game of two halves.
It was an unchanged Arbroath side for the 3rd game in a row as the Lichties attacked down the slope towards the West Terrace with the wind at their back.
Former Arbroath striker Greg Rutherford was given a great chance in the opening minutes as he was played through with a clever ball over the top but Ricky Little was on hand to make a tackle with the home fans screaming for a penalty as Rutherford fell to his knees.
Arbroath soon started to find their rhythm and put in one of the best first half performances of the season, with some slick passing and putting the Berwick defence under pressure.
Former Berwick Rangers player, David Gold was particularly enjoying the space that kept on opening up for him and was unfortunate when he shot from 25 yards out, forcing Walker in goals to leap high into the air to palm the shot away.
However the best was yet to come as Gold found himself in an identical position just minutes later but this time he decided to push forward and showed great skill to float past defender Brian Martin at the edge of the box before continuing his run forward before striking a right foot shot into the bottom right hand corner to give Arbroath the lead in the 20th minute.
Arbroath kept up the pressure with a shot from Kader in a similar position to Gold’s strike just flying over with Scott and Doris also coming close. At the back Gomes was showing his pedigree in goal and keeping the Lichties in it when called upon.
Berwick Rangers came out for the second half knowing they were shooting down the slope and had the advantage of the wind.
It wasn’t long before they took advantage of these conditions when Referee Grant Irvine awarded Berwick a free kick just outside of the Arbroath 18 yard line. It seemed a harsh decision as both McCord and Sheerin went for the same ball. Arbroath were made to pay when Steven Thomson stepped up and struck a perfect free kick, with the ball curling into the postage stamp area of the goal leaving Gomes with no chance.
Play was racing from end to end with Berwick being guilty of being slack when in possession but Arbroath were struggling to make much impact in the final 3rd. Martin Scott had a great chance when Walker came running out but flapped at the cross but Scott could only fire wide from the tight angle.
Ricky Gomes again came to Arbroath’s rescue in the second half when he twice made runs outside his box to intercept Berwick’s long balls over the top before making his save of the match when he denied Sheerin with a great instinctive save from the former Lichtie from 2 yards out.
Mark Whatley came close with a long range strike with Arbroath’s best chance in the final 20 minutes, but after a series of changes for both teams nobody could find the cutting edge.
Arbroath
1 – Ricky Gomes
2 – David Gold
3 – Gary Phillips
4 – Ricky Little
5 – Colin Hamilton
6 – Mark Whatley (c) (Callaghan 84)
7 – Omar Kader
8 – Ryan McCord
9 – Steven Doris (Hester 72)
10 – Martin Scott
11 – Bobby Linn (Prunty 84)
Goal – Gold 20
Bookings – Callaghan 90
Substitutes
12 – Bryan Prunty – 11; 84th
14 – Kane Hester – 9; 72nd
15 – Jassem Sukar
16 – Liam Callaghan – 6; 84th
17 – Josh Thomson
18 – Gavin Malin
21 – Robbie Mutch (GK)
Attendance – 390
